Pachymaran alleviates fat accumulation, hepatocyte degeneration, and injury in mice with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

BACKGROUND

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by excessive hepatic fat accumulation and is closely associated with obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia.

OBJECTIVES

This study explores the effects of pachymaran on NAFLD induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) in a murine model.

METHODS

Thirty male C57BL/6 mice were allocated into five groups: normal diet (ND), NAFLD, and high-, medium-, and low-dose pachymaran (200, 100, and 50 mg/kg, respectively). All groups except the ND were fed a HFD to induce NAFLD. The pachymaran groups received daily intragastric pachymaran for eight weeks. Post-treatment, liver weight were recorded, serum indices assessed, and hepatic pathology evaluated via histological and Oil Red O staining. Adenylate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) gene expression was analyzed through western blotting.

RESULTS

The body weight and liver gain (87.8 and 23.0%) in the high-dose pachymaran group were significantly less than those (154.2 and 82.0%) in the NAFLD group (P < 0.05). Fat content and serum indices improvements correlated with increased pachymaran doses. Histological analyses indicated significant alleviation of hepatocyte hypertrophy and ballooning steatosis in treated groups. Oil Red O staining confirmed a substantial decrease in hepatic lipid droplets, and western blot results indicated a significant increase in AMPK phosphorylation following treatment (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Pachymaran effectively mitigated fat accumulation, hepatocyte degeneration, and injury in mice with diet-induced NAFLD, likely through modulation of the AMPK pathway.