BabaoDan attenuates high-fat diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease via activation of AMPK signaling

作者：Dandan Sheng, Shanmin Zhao, Lu Gao, Huifei Sophia Zheng, Wenting Liu, Jing Yun Hou, Yuxiang Jin, Fei Ye, Qiudong Zhao, Rong Li, Naping Zhao, Li Rita Zhang, Zhipeng Han, Lixin Wei · 发表于：Cell & Bioscience · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1186/s13578-019-0339-2 · 被引用次数：103 · 研究领域：Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment、Adipose Tissue and Metabolism、Berberine and alkaloids research

BACKGROUND: Babaodan (BBD), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been shown to have protective effects during liver injury and ameliorate liver disease progression, but little is known about its effect on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of BBD on obesity-induced NAFLD. METHODS: C57BL/6 J mice were fed with normal diet, high fat diet (HFD) or HFD + BBD for 8 weeks. Weights of all mice were recorded every 3 days. At the end of the experiments, the level of livers, kidneys and adipose tissues of each animal was weighed. Blood serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), glucose and leptin were detected with appropriate test kits. Haematoxylin-eosin (HE), Masson trichrome and Oil Red O staining of the liver were performed. We applied immunohistochemical analysis to investigate the expression of TNF-α, IL-6 and leptin in liver tissue. The expression of genes related lipid anabolism (SREBP1-c, ACC, SCD-1, LXRα and CD36) and ß-oxidation (CPT-1 and PPARα) in liver and adipose tissues was determined by RT-PCR. The expression of AMPK and p-AMPK was determined by western blot analysis. RESULTS: We found the weight of bodies and tissues (retroperitoneal fat pads, kidneys and livers) of mice fed with HFD + BBD were significantly lower than that of...