Radix Hedysari polysaccharide suppresses lipid metabolism dysfunction in a rat model of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease via adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase pathway activation

• Published in: Molecular medicine reports Vol. 10; no. 3; pp. 1237 - 1244
• Main Authors: SUN, WEI-MING, WANG, YU-PING, DUAN, YONG-QIANG, SHANG, HONG-XIA, CHENG, WEI-DONG
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece D.A. Spandidos 01.09.2014; Spandidos Publications; Spandidos Publications UK Ltd
• Subjects: Aconitum - chemistry; Adenosine kinase; adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase pathway; AMP; AMP-Activated Protein Kinases - genetics; AMP-Activated Protein Kinases - metabolism; Animals; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Body weight; Body Weight - drug effects; Care and treatment; Chinese medicine; Cholesterol; Diet; Diet, High-Fat - adverse effects; Disease Models, Animal; Down-Regulation; Fatty acids; Fatty liver; Gene expression; Genetic aspects; Health aspects; High fat diet; Hypolipidemic Agents - pharmacology; Immunomodulation; Kinases; Laboratory animals; Lipid metabolism; Lipids; Lipogenesis; Lipogenesis - drug effects; Lipolysis; Liver - drug effects; Liver - metabolism; Liver diseases; Male; Metabolism; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - drug therapy; Oxidative stress; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; Phosphorylation; Physiology; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; polysaccharide; Polysaccharides; Polysaccharides - pharmacology; PPAR alpha - genetics; PPAR alpha - metabolism; Protein kinase; Protein turnover; Proteins; Radix Hedysari; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Rodents; Signal Transduction; Steatosis; Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 1 - genetics; Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 1 - metabolism; Sterol regulatory element-binding protein; Transcription; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; China
• ISSN: 1791-2997; 1791-3004
• DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2014.2327

Oxidative stress and excess hepatic lipid accumulation contribute to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Radix Hedysari polysaccharides (RHP) have attracted interest due to their antioxidant properties and immunomodulatory effects. However, the effect of RHP on hepatic lipid metabolism remains to be elucidated. In the present study, the response of Sprague-Dawley rat livers to a high-fat diet and RHP treatment was investigated by evaluating body weight, liver histology, hepatic lipid content, adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity and lipid metabolism gene transcriptional profiles. The present study demonstrated that RHP ameliorated lipid metabolism disorders, regulated hepatic lipid content, improved liver inflammation and damage, activated AMPK via phosphorylation, upregulated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and downregulated the mRNA expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c in rat livers, which reduced lipogenesis and increased lipolysis. Taken together, these results suggested that RHP effectively ameliorates lipid metabolism disorders in rat livers; thus, RHP may be a potential therapeutic agent in the prevention of hepatic steatosis.