Salicornia Extract Ameliorates Salt‐Induced Aggravation of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Obese Mice Fed a High‐Fat Diet

Abstract

High-fat and high-salt intakes are among the major risks of chronic diseases including obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Salicornia is a halophytic plant known to exert antioxidant, antidiabetic, and hypolipidemic effects, and Salicornia-extracted salt (SS) has been used as a salt substitute. In this study, the effects of SS and purified salt (PS) on the aggravation of NAFLD/NASH were compared. C57BL/6J male mice (8-wk-old) were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 6 mo and divided into 3 dietary groups, which were additionally fed HFD, HFD + SS, and HFD + PS for 13 wk. PS induced aggravation of NAFLD/NASH in HFD-fed mice. Although the actual salt intake was same between the PS and SS groups as 1% of the diet (extrapolated from the World Health Organization [WHO] guideline), SS induced less liver injury and hepatic steatosis compared to PS. The hepatic mRNA expressions of inflammatory cytokines and fibrosis marker were significantly lower in the SS group than the PS group. Oxidative stress is one of the major causes of inflammation in NAFLD/NASH. Results of the component analysis showed that the major polyphenols that exhibited antioxidant activity in the Salicornia water extract were ferulic acid, caffeic acid, and isorhamnetin. These results suggest that even the level of salt intake recommended by WHO can accelerate the progression of liver disease in obese individuals consuming HFD. It is proposed that SS can be a salt substitute for obese individuals who consume HFD.

Ferulic acid suppresses obesity and obesity-related metabolic syndromes in high fat diet-induced obese C57BL/6J mice

“…Previous studies have indicated that liver steatosis is commonly associated with obesity (Kim et al, 2017). In the present study, high-fat diet induced liver weight increasing by 18.7% compared with that in NC mice, which was consistent with other reports (Xu,Table 4.…”

High-Salt Diet Gets Involved in Gastrointestinal Diseases through the Reshaping of Gastroenterological Milieu

“…Studies suggested that high salt intake increases inflammation and fibrosis in liver steatosis mainly by increasing the expression of F4/80 and TNF-α, and the ballooning of hepatocytes [36]. Due to ROS overproduction, excessive salt intake worsens hepatic lipid peroxidation and accelerates high-fat induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis [36][37][38]. Additionally, a chronic exposure of HSD is indicated to cause pancreatic fibrosis in Wistar rats [39].…”

Improvement in Menopause‐Associated Hepatic Lipid Metabolic Disorders by Herbal Formula HPC03 on Ovariectomized Rats

“…ALT and AST are distributed throughout the body, whereas ALT is mainly present in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes, while AST is distributed in the cytoplasm and the mitochondria of the heart, liver, and kidney. ALT and AST can be easily measured in the blood, and since ALT is a hepatocyte specific enzyme, the elevation of ALT directly reflects hepatocyte damage such as fatty liver, hepatitis, or hepatic necrosis [33]. Fatty livers were shown to develop in the OVX group, and their serum ALT and AST activities were found to increase significantly.…”

“…Many researchers have conducted experiments on plant extracts and single compound isolated from extracts using various NAFLD models. Among them, the plant extracts studied were as follows: the lemon balm extract ALS-L1023, Vitex Agnus-Castus L. (Verbenaceae), volatile oil, mulberry leaf, licorice root, Uncaria tomentosa , Rubus crataegifolius roots, Lycium barbarum , and white button mushroom (WBM) [ 32 ] [ 19 , 33 – 38 ]. Many single compound including flavonoids, alkaloids, polysaccharides, quinones, terpenes, coumarins, lignans, saponins, cardiac glycosides, phenolic acids, and amino acids have been shown to have considerable therapeutic effects on NAFLD [ 13 , 15 , 19 , 39 ].…”