Protective Effects of Korean Red Ginseng against Alcohol-Induced Fatty Liver in Rats

Abstract

The present study tested the hypothesis that Korean red ginseng (KRG) provides a protective effect against alcoholic fatty liver. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups and fed a modified Lieber-DeCarli diet containing 5% (w/v) alcohol or an isocaloric amount of dextrin-maltose for the controls for 6 weeks: normal control (CON), alcohol control (ET), and ET treated with 125 or 250 mg/kg body weight/day of KRG (RGL or RGH, respectively). Compared with the CON group, the ET group exhibited a significant increase in triglycerides, total cholesterol and the presence of lipid droplets in the liver, and a decrease in fat mass, which were all attenuated by KRG supplementation in adose-dependent manner. The mitigation was accompanied by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathways in the liver and adipose tissue. In addition, suppression in the alcohol-induced changes of adipose adipokine mRNA expression was also observed in KRG supplementation group. These findings suggest that KRG may have the potential to ameliorate alcoholic fatty liver by suppressing inappropriate lysis of adipose tissue and preventing unnecessary de novo lipogenesis in the liver, which are mediated by AMPK signaling pathways. A mechanism for an interplay between the two organs is still needed to be examined with further assays.

Effect of Korean Red Ginseng in chronic liver disease

“…Many studies have evaluated the potential beneficial effects of KRG on alcoholic liver disease [11] , [18] , [20] , [21] , [22] . In a preclinical study involving rats [22] , KRG extract’s effect on liver damage induced by short-term and long-term alcohol treatment was evaluated.…”

“…KRG has also been associated with several beneficial effects on liver function and liver disease. First, it has been shown to have a hepatoprotective effect against acute and chronic liver injury caused by a variety of hepatotoxins, which may include hydrogen peroxide [19] , alcohol [11] , [18] , [20] , [21] , [22] , carbon tetrachloride [23] , aflatoxin B1 [24] , [25] , diethylnitrosamine [26] , and viruses [13] , [27] . Second, KRG is associated with antiinflammatory and antioxidative effects in the context of NAFLD [10] , [28] .…”

“…A number of experimental and clinical studies have been carried out to evaluate the beneficial effects of KRG in the context of CLD [10] , [11] , [12] , [21] , [26] , [27] , [29] , [33] , [34] . In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the beneficial effects of KRG on CLD, a condition encompassing NAFLD, alcoholic liver disease, chronic viral hepatitis, and HCC.…”

Hepatic Steatosis: Can Herbs Cure This?

“…Rats were used as an animal model as its anatomy has a much resemblance with human anatomy 16 .A similar study was done in Korea in 2015, the only difference, they use black Korean ginseng instead of red Korean ginseng they also obtained the same finding 17 . The same species were also used by many workers and they suggested red ginseng may have the potential to ameliorate alcoholic fatty liver by suppressing inappropriate lysis of adipose tissue and preventing unnecessary de novo lipogenesis in the liver, which is mediated by AMPK signaling pathways 18 .…”

Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer as a potential therapeutic agent for organ fibrosis disease

“…Korean scientists are devoted to the research of Korean red ginseng (KRG) and found the crude extract of KRG acts as an antioxidant and protector in Hepatitis B-induced LF [ 36 ]. Apart from internal etiologies, KRG efficaciously mitigates inflammatory responses against acute LF which caused by physical factors such as Gamma irradiation or chemical factors such as CCl 4 and alcohol [ 37 – 39 ].…”