Herbal therapy for ameliorating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease via rebuilding the intestinal microecology

Abstract

The worldwide prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing, and this metabolic disorder has been recognized as a severe threat to human health. A variety of chemical drugs have been approved for treating NAFLD, however, they always has serious side effects. Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) have been widely used for preventing and treating a range of metabolic diseases with satisfactory safety and effective performance in clinical treatment of NAFLD. Recent studies indicated that imbanlance of the intestinal microbiota was closely associated with the occurrence and development of NAFLD, thus, the intestinal microbiota has been recognized as a promising target for treatment of NAFLD. In recent decades, a variety of CHMs have been reported to effectively prevent or treat NAFLD by modulating intestinal microbiota to further interfer the gut-liver axis. In this review, recent advances in CHMs for the treatment of NAFLD via rebuilding the intestinal microecology were systematically reviewed. The key roles of CHMs in the regulation of gut microbiota and the gut-liver axis along with their mechanisms (such as modulating intestinal permeability, reducing the inflammatory response, protecting liver cells, improving lipid metabolism, and modulating nuclear receptors), were well summarized. All the knowledge and information presented here will be very helpful for researchers to better understand the applications and mechanisms of CHMs for treatment of NAFLD.

Ginsenoside Rk2, a dehydroprotopanaxadiol saponin, alleviates alcoholic liver disease via regulating NLRP3 and NLRP6 inflammasome signaling pathways in mice

“…4 C). TLR4/NF-κB-mediated activation of Kupffer cells plays a central role in ethanol-induced liver inflammation [ 45 , 46 ]. As shown in Figs.…”

The gut-liver axis in fatty liver disease: role played by natural products

“…Since NAFLD was described in the 1980s, a large number of experimental studies and clinical trials have been conducted in China to investigate the efficacy of TCM in the treatment of NAFLD. Herbal medicines for the treatment of diseases are safe for clinical use and as of now dance adverse effects ( Zhang et al, 2020 ; Yang et al, 2021 ). Consider the long-term use of botanical drugs and Western medicines, which has a broader perspective for rebuilding the intestinal microecology and improving NAFLD ( Figure 2 ).…”

Gut Microbiota Modulates the Protective Role of Ginsenoside Compound K Against Sodium Valproate-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Rat

“…Recently, the composition of gut microbiota has been linked to the hepatotoxicity of atrazine (Liu et al, 2021 ), 1,4-dioxane (Zhou et al, 2020b ), difenoconazole (Jiang et al, 2020 ), geniposide (Li et al, 2019 ), palmitic acid (Ding et al, 2018 ), acetaminophen (Gong et al, 2018 ), tacrine (Yip et al, 2018 ), N, N-dimethylformamide (Zhang et al, 2017 ), and PCB126 (Chi et al, 2019 ). In addition, the gut microbiota has also been reported to mediate the hepatoprotective effects of many forms of interventions (Meng et al, 2018 ; Yang et al, 2021 ). The role of gut microbiota presents a new research direction for exploring the mechanisms and effective interventions of drug-induced liver injury.…”