In
this work, the protective effect of apple polyphenol extract
(APE) on hepatic steatosis was investigated. Thirty-two C57BL/6J mice
were assigned randomly to control group, hepatic steatosis group,
lovastatin group, and APE group. After 8 weeks of intervention, APE
supplementation markedly decreased the body weight gain, liver weight,
liver index, epididymal adipose weight, epididymal adipose index,
serum, and hepatic lipid levels. Hematoxylin and eosin staining revealed
that APE supplementation alleviated histopathological changes of hepatic
steatosis. Western blot revealed that APE downregulated the protein
levels of GRP78, IRE1α, p-IRE1α, XBP1, PERK, p-PERK, p-eIF2α,
ATF6, PPAR-γ, SREBP-1c, FAS, and ACC1. In conclusion, this study
found that APE inhibited IRE1α-XBP1, PERK-eIF2α, and ATF6
signaling pathways to alleviate endoplasmic reticulum stress, thereby
improving HFD-induced hepatic steatosis.