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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1487738
This article is part of the Research Topic Preventing and Treating Liver Diseases: Medicinal and Food Plants, their metabolites as potential options View all 15 articles

Ethanol Extract of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua Mitigates Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis in Mice

Provisionally accepted
Zheng Li Zheng Li 1*Dongliang Chen Dongliang Chen 1Yue Shen Yue Shen 2Fang Huang Fang Huang 1Bo Huang Bo Huang 1Shangfu Xu Shangfu Xu 1Lisheng Li Lisheng Li 1XIA LI XIA LI 1*
  • 1 Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
  • 2 Qixingguan District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Bijie, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Polygonum cyrtonema Hua is a kind of traditional Chinese botanic drug. Modern pharmacological research has confirmed that Polygonum cyrtonema Hua is able to alleviate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, but the precise mechanism requires further investigation. This study investigated the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of Polygonatum cyrtonema ethanol extract (PCE) against Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in mice. Methods UHPLC-MS/MS was utilized to analyze the metabolites of PCE. The NASH mouse model was establishment in C57BL/6J mice via high-fat diet (HFD) feeding for 12 weeks, and from the 9th week, mice were gavaged with PCE (100, 300, and 900 mg/kg/d), simvastatin (4 mg/kg) or saline. One hand, liver injury was assessed by serum enzymes, biochemistry, and histopathology; On the other hand, RNA-seq, qPCR, and Western blot were employed to investigate the related molecular mechanisms. Results 211 metabolites were identified through UHPLC-MS/MS analysis. PCE ameliorated HFD induced liver injury and improved hepatocellular degeneration and steatosis in a dose-dependent way. PCE restored the expression of AMPK, SIRT1, SREBP1 and PPAR-α both in mRNA and protein levels. RNAseq identified unique gene expression profiles in response to high-fat diet (HFD) compared to the PCE treatments. HFD-induced DEGs were attenuated or abolished following PCE treatments. Ingenuity pathway analysis of RNA-seq data revealed key canonical pathways and upstream molecules regulated by PCE.Our findings confirm the ability of PCE in alleviating NASH and underscores AMPK/SIRT1 pathway as a potential theraputic target for NASH treatment.

    Keywords: Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua, NASH, AMPK, SIRT1, NF-κ B, PPAR-α, RNA-Seq

    Received: 28 Aug 2024; Accepted: 20 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Chen, Shen, Huang, Huang, Xu, Li and LI. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Zheng Li, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
    XIA LI, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.