Penthorum chinense Pursh extract ameliorates alcohol-related fatty liver disease in mice via the SIRT1/AMPK signaling axis

Hui Zhuge; Yan Pan; Shanglei Lai; Kaixin Chang; Qinchao Ding; Wenjing Cao; Qing Song; Songtao Li; Xiaobing Dou; Bin Ding

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31195

Penthorum chinense Pursh extract ameliorates alcohol-related fatty liver disease in mice via the SIRT1/AMPK signaling axis

Heliyon. 2024 May 16;10(11):e31195. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31195. eCollection 2024 Jun 15.

Authors

Hui Zhuge^{1

2}, Yan Pan^{1

2}, Shanglei Lai^{1

2}, Kaixin Chang^{1

2}, Qinchao Ding^{3

4

2}, Wenjing Cao³, Qing Song³, Songtao Li³, Xiaobing Dou^{1

2}, Bin Ding^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Life Science, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China.
² Molecular Medicine Institute, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China.
³ College of Public Health, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁴ College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.

Abstract

Penthorum chinense Pursh (P. chinense), a functional food, has been applied to protect the liver against alcohol-related fatty liver disease (ALD) for a long history in China. This study was designed to evaluate the ameliorative activity of the polyphenolic fraction in P. chinense (PGF) depending on the relief of ALD. The ALD mouse model was established by exposing the mice to a Lieber-DeCarli alcohol liquid diet. We found that PGF administration significantly ameliorated alcohol-induced liver injury, steatosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation in mice. Furthermore, alcohol-increased levels of the critical hepatic lipid synthesis proteins sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor (SREBP-1) and diacylglycerol o-acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2) were attenuated by PGF. Similarly, PGF inhibited the expression of the lipid transport protein very low-density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR). Interestingly, PGF restored alcohol-inhibited expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), essential fatty acid β-oxidation proteins. Mechanistic studies revealed that PGF protects against alcohol-induced hepatocyte injury and lipid deposition via the SIRT1/AMPK signaling pathway. In sum, this research clearly demonstrated the protective effects of PGF against ALD, which was mediated by activating SIRT1/AMPK pathways in hepatocytes. We provide a new theoretical basis for using P. chinense as a functional food in ALD.

Keywords: AMPK; Alcohol-related fatty liver disease; Graphical abstract; Lipid metabolism; Penthorum chinense Pursh; SIRT1.