Background
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease, and has high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Agastache rugosa (AR) possesses unique anti-oxidant, anti‑inflammatory and anti-atherosclerosis characteristics.
Methods
To investigate the effects and the underlying mechanism of AR on NAFLD, we fed mice a high-fat diet (HFD) to establish NAFLD model of mice in vivo experiment and induced lipidosis in AML12 hepatocytes through a challenge with free fatty acids (FFA) in vitro. The contents of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in liver homogenates were measured. Pathological changes in liver tissue were evaluated by HE staining. Oil red O staining was used to determine degree of lipid accumulation in liver tissue, and Western blot was used to detect abundance of inflammation-, lipid metabolism- and endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins.
Results
Supply of AR alleviated accumulation of lipid in hepatocytes induced by HFD in vivo and challenged with free fatty acids (FFA) in vitro. Compared with the HFD group, supplementing AR decreased p-NF-κB/NF-κB and p-IκB/IκB protein and inhibited abundance of PERK, IRE1 and ATF6 (P < 0.05). Furthermore, AR reduced lipid accumulation within hepatocytes by downregulating abundance of SREBP, ACC1 and FAS (P < 0.05). Supply of AR significantly attenuated ROS accumulation and MDA production by improving antioxidant enzymatic activity including SOD and GSH (P < 0.01).
Conclusion
Supply of AR attenuates disordered lipid metabolism and enhances the antioxidative defense associated with NAFLD induced by HFD in mice. Results underscore the potential of plants used in traditional Chinese medicine to achieve pharmacological benefits through a multi-tier cellular response.