Non-alcoholic fatty liver protective effects, and studies on the mechanism of action of Crataegi Fructus

Objectives : Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by the accumulation of hepatic triglycerides (TG) that leads to inflammation and fibrosis. Crataegi Fructus ethanol extract (CE) is a korean traditional herb that used for digestive diseases. It has been investigated that CE has the effect that prevent hepatotoxicity caused by CCl4 or GaIN and regulate the inflammatory in several organs. However, a hypolipidemic effect of CF has not been reported. Methods : The purpose of this study is that examine the lipid accumulation inhibitory effect of CE on NAFLD. We checked the body and liver weight change of MCD-diet induced mice with/without administration of CE. The blood lipid levels of C57BL/6J mice were checked by biochemistry. Also we observed the liver histology of MCD-diet induced mice and investigate the molecular mechanisms in MCD-diet-induced NAFLD in C57BL/6J mice. Results : CE improved MCD-diet-induced lipid accumulation and TG and TC levels. Also, CE decreased hepatic lipogenesis such as SREBP-1, $C/EBP{\alpha}$, $PPAR{\gamma}$, ACC and FAS. Besides, we also found out that CE increased AMPK phosphorylation. These results indicated that CE has the same ability to activate AMPK and then reduce SREBP-1, and FAS expression, finally leading to inhibit hepatic lipogenesis and hepatic antioxidative ability. Conclusions : In this report, we found CE exerted a regulatory effect on lipid accumulation by decreasing lipogenesis in MCD-diet induced NAFLD model. Therefore, CE extract may be active in the prevention of fatty liver.

산사의 NAFLD 보호 효과 및 그 작용기전에 관한 연구