Traditional Chinese Medicine improves dysfunction of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein on abnormalities in lipid metabolism in ethanol-fed rats

Abstract

We report the effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on alcohol-induced fatty liver in rats. TCM consists of Astragalus membranaceus, Morus alba, Crataegus pinnatifida, Alisma oriental, Salvia miltiorrhiza and Pueraria lobata. The rats were separated randomly into five groups; the CD group (n=10), which was fed a control diet for 10 weeks, the ED group (n=10), which was fed an isocaloric liquid diet containing ethanol for 10 weeks and given daily oral doses of TCM (0.222 g/kg/day; TCM222, 0.667 g/kg/day; TCM667, and 2.000 g/kg/day; TCM2000, n=10, respectively) over the last four weeks of the study. The ED group developed fatty livers, as determined by their lipid profiles and liver histological findings. Compared with the control group, liver/body weight, plasma triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC), liver TG and TC, plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartic aminotransferase (AST) significantly increased in the ED group. Also, free fatty acids (FFA) levels increased in both plasma and liver during the administration of ethanol. On the other hand, when rats were administrated with TCM, their liver/body weight, plasma TG, TC and FFA, liver TG, TC and FFA, plasma ALT and AST decreased significantly and the degree of hepatic lipid droplets was markedly improved compared with those in the ED group. Proper function of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) is essential for the regulation of hepatic fatty acid metabolism. Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) is essential for the secretion of triglycerides from the liver. mRNAs for PPARalpha and MTP were reduced in the livers of ethanol-fed rats. TCM restored the mRNA levels of PPARalpha and MTP, and prevented development of fatty livers in ethanol-fed rats. Impairment of PPARalpha and MTP function during ethanol consumption contributes to the development of alcohol-induced fatty liver, which can be overcome by TCM.

Effect of ShanZha, a Chinese herbal product, on obesity and dyslipidemia in hamsters receiving high-fat diet

“…There is no evidence showing that ShanZha could induce an activation of PPAR␣. Our result regarding ShanZha increased the activity of PPAR␣ is consistent with a previous report that Crataegus pinnatifida, containing in a traditional Chinese medicine mix formula, diminished the accumulation of lipids in liver through regulating PPAR␣ activity (Kwon et al, 2005). It can be considered that ShanZha acts as an activator of PPAR␣ to modulate the function of adipose tissue.…”

Effect of Ultra-fine Traditional Chinese Medicine Compounds on Regulation of Lipid Metabolism and Reduction in Egg Cholesterol of Laying Hens

“…Moreover, some reports showed that Lotus leaf leads to a decrease in the levels of serum lipid (Cho et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2013). Furthermore, many studies uncovered that TCM could affect total lipid metabolism by reducing serum lipid level (Guo et al, 2015;Kwon et al, 2005;Tu et al, 2003). The present study showed a significant decrease in hepatic fat percentage and a decrease trending in abdominal fat percentage after the dietary supplemented with TCM.…”

The hepatoprotective activity of olive oil and Nigella sativa oil against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in male rats

“…Body weight loss is a distinctive feature of CCl 4 -induced hepatotoxicity [44]. One of the largest organ is liver that CCl 4 administrated caused a rapid accumulation of triglycerides in the liver due to a block secretion of very low density lipoprotein by hepatocytes [45, 46]. Furthermore, increase in the total body weight was detected after administration of olive oil and N. Sativa oil to rats received CCl 4 .…”