Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has gradually become one of the most serious liver diseases threatening human health in the world. Currently, Chinese herbal medicine is a potentially important treatment option for NAFLD, and the development of effective Chinese herbal medicine has a good prospect. Previous studies have suggested that Ficus hirta Vahl. (FV) has various protective effects on the liver. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic outcomes of FV treatment for the liver disease and its underlying mechanism using HepG2 cell lines induced by palmitate (PA) and mouse model fed with high-fat diet (HFD). FV mainly exerts pharmacological effects by mediating lipid metabolism and inflammation. During the lipid metabolism regulation process, CD36, SREBP-1, SCD1, PPAR γ, ACOX1, and CPT1α are the key factors related to the healing effects of FV on NAFLD. During the inflammation process, the downregulation of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α is involved in alleviation of NAFLD. Furthermore, CD36 overexpression promotes lipid abnormal metabolism and inflammation in PA-induced HepG2 cells, while CD36 knockdown and FV supplementation reverse these responses. In addition, FV also modulates gut microbiota composition, such as Allobaculum, Faecalibaculum, and Butyricicoccus in HFD-fed mice. In summary, our findings demonstrated that FV exerted a beneficial preventive and therapeutic effect on NAFLD by improving lipid metabolism and inflammation as well as regulating the structure of gut microbiota, and therefore, FV may be a candidate for the treatment of NAFLD.

Previous studies have indicated that indolepropionic acid (IPA), derived from dietary tryptophan via gut microbiota conversion, is negatively correlated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and systemic low-grade inflammation. However, the effects of IPA administration on obesity, as well as the underlying mechanisms, remain unclear. In the present study, we observed that obesity leads to a dramatic reduction in IPA levels in both the serum and colonic mucosa, and IPA supplementation exerted beneficial effects on weight, as well as on glucose and lipid metabolism disorders. In adipose tissue, IPA treatment had no direct effect on adipocyte differentiation, but it significantly ameliorated adipose inflammation, thus preventing adipocyte enlargement. Moreover, IPA administration promoted gut integrity, increased the expression of tight junction proteins, and downregulated colonic inflammation; these effects were demonstrated to have a poor relationship with gut microbiota composition. Mechanistically, IPA significantly promoted the expansion of the tuft cell lineage in the gut and increased the secretion of interleukin-25 both in vivo and ex vivo, which contributes to the integrity of the gut barrier. This may partly depend on the free fatty acid receptor 3 pathway in tuft cells. Overall, our results demonstrate that IPA supplementation prevents the development of highfat diet-induced obesity and metabolic disorders by restoring tuft cellinterleukin-25-mediated colonic barrier integrity; hence, IPA could be a potential agent for treatment of obesity.

Background Hepatic granuloma formation and fibrosis as the consequence of tissue entrapped eggs produced by female schistosomes characterize the pathology of Schistosoma japonicum infection. It has been proposed that fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide existing naturally in brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus, plays a diversified role to perform immunomodulatory activities. However, whether fucoidan functions in the host hepatic pathology is unknown and identifying the potential mechanism that is responsible for hepatic improvement is still necessary. Methods We evaluated the hepatic pathology from S. japonicum-infected mice after treatment with fucoidan. qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence were used to detect the pro- or anti-inflammatory factors and the phosphorylated p65 in the livers. In addition, flow cytometry was also performed to investigate the T cell subsets in the S. japonicum-infected mice after treatment with fucoidan, and functional molecules relatively specific to Treg cells were detected in vitro. Furthermore, macrophages were treated with fucoidan in vitro and to detect the inflammatory cytokines. Results Treatment with fucoidan significantly reduced the hepatic granuloma size and fibrosis response during S. japonicum infection. The attenuated phospho-p65 protein levels and the mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α) were observed in the livers from fucoidan-treated S. japonicum-infected mice; however, the mRNA levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4 and IL-13) were increased. In addition, the infiltration of Treg cells was significantly enhanced both in the livers and spleens from fucoidan-treated S. japonicum-infected mice. Consistent with this, the mRNA levels of IL-10 and TGF-β were dramatically increased in the livers from S. japonicum-infected mice after fucoidan treatment. Furthermore, in vitro stimulated splenocytes with fucoidan resulted in increasing Treg cells in splenocytes as well as the functional expression of CC chemokine receptor type 4 (CCR4) and CXC chemokine receptor type 5 (CXCR5) in Treg cells. Additionally, fucoidan promoted the mRNA levels of IL-4 and IL-13 in macrophages. Conclusions These findings suggest an important role of natural fucoidan in reducing hepatic pathology in the progress of S. japonicum infection with a stronger Treg response, which may reveal a new potential therapeutic strategy for hepatic disease caused by parasitic chronic infection.

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Obesity-induced adipose tissue dysfunction and disorders of glycolipid metabolism have become a worldwide research priority. Zfp217 plays a crucial role in adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, but about its functions in animal models are not yet clear. To explore the role of Zfp217 in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice, global Zfp217 heterozygous knockout (Zfp217+/−) mice were constructed. Zfp217+/− mice and Zfp217+/+ mice fed a normal chow diet (NC) did not differ significantly in weight gain, percent body fat mass, glucose tolerance, or insulin sensitivity. When challenged with HFD, Zfp217+/− mice had less weight gain than Zfp217+/+ mice. Histological observations revealed that Zfp217+/− mice fed a high-fat diet had much smaller white adipocytes in inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT). Zfp217+/− mice had improved metabolic profiles, including improved glucose tolerance, enhanced insulin sensitivity, and increased energy expenditure compared to the Zfp217+/+ mice under HFD. We found that adipogenesis-related genes were increased and metabolic thermogenesis-related genes were decreased in the iWAT of HFD-fed Zfp217+/+ mice compared to Zfp217+/− mice. In addition, adipogenesis was markedly reduced in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) from Zfp217-deleted mice. Together, these data indicate that Zfp217 is a regulator of energy metabolism and it is likely to provide novel insight into treatment for obesity.