Bean Leaves Ameliorate Lipotoxicity in Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

Bioactive compounds in plant-based food have protective effects against metabolic alterations, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Bean leaves are widely cultivated in the world and are a source of dietary fiber and polyphenols. High fat/high fructose diet animal models promote deleterious effects in adipose and non-adipose tissues (lipotoxicity), leading to obesity and its comorbidities. Short-term supplementation of bean leaves exhibited anti-diabetic, anti-hyperlipidemic, and anti-obesity effects in high-fat/high-fructose diet animal models. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of bean leaves supplementation in the prevention of lipotoxicity in NAFLD and contribute to elucidating the possible mechanism involved for a longer period of time. During thirteen weeks, male Wistar rats (n = 9/group) were fed with: (1) S: Rodent Laboratory Chow 5001® (RLC); (2) SBL: 90% RLC+ 10% dry bean leaves; (3) H: high-fat/high-fructose diet; (4) HBL: H+ 10% of dry bean leaves. Overall, a HBL diet enhanced impaired glucose tolerance and ameliorated obesity, risk factors in NAFLD development. Additionally, bean leaves exerted antioxidant (↑serum GSH) and anti-inflammatory (↓mRNA TNFα in the liver) effects, prevented hepatic fat accumulation by enhanced ↑mRNA PPARα (β oxidation), and enhanced lipid peroxidation (↓liver MDA). These findings suggest that bean leaves ameliorated hepatic lipotoxicity derived from the consumption of a deleterious diet.

Ingestion of Bean Leaves Reduces Metabolic Complications and Restores Intestinal Integrity in C57BL/6 Mice with Obesity Induced by a High-Fat and High-Fructose Diet

“…Interestingly, the reduction in adipose tissue due to BL consumption can be attributed to the contribution of phenolic compounds (r = −0.451). Similarly, it was previously reported that the consumption of bean leaves in rats on an obesogenic diet prevents weight gain and the amount of adipose tissue without decreasing energy consumption [11,13].…”

“…Interestingly, the improvement in metabolic alterations is related to the significantly higher concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs, 54%) in the cecal content [11]. In another study, supplementation with bean leaves of the Eugenia variety for 13 weeks prevented hepatic lipotoxicity in rats fed HFFD [13]. Therefore, these results led us to suggest that a strategy to reduce obesity is to improve intestinal integrity through bean leaves consumption.…”

Updated mechanisms of MASLD pathogenesis

“…Li et al explored the therapeutic effects of diet in MASLD patients and determined that intermittent fasting (IF) was more beneficial in reducing the lipotoxicity of MASLD compared to conventional therapies than switching to a normal diet (ND) [ 140 ]. Recently, a high-fat/high-fructose diet including 10% of bean leaves has also been found to ameliorate lipoatrophy and lipid peroxidation in fatty liver disease, providing new perspectives for the prevention and treatment of MASLD and MASH [ 141 ]. Regular exercise may also alleviate glycolipid metabolism disorders and thus be effective against MASLD, but there is no clear evidence regarding the therapeutic effects of exercise modalities in patients with MASLD in the literature [ 142 , 143 ].…”