An integrated zebrafish model and network pharmacology to investigate the mechanism of Chrysanthemum for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat) is a food, which serves both as a medicinal and culinary resource in China; however, its active ingredients and mechanisms underlying its hepatoprotective effects remain elusive. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of water extract from chrysanthemum flowers (WEFC) against metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver induced by thioacetamide (TAA) in zebrafish and its underlying mechanisms. The protective effect of WEFC against TAA-induced liver injury was investigated using the liver-specific transgenic zebrafish line, Tg(fabp10a:DsRed). Network pharmacology was used to analyze the potential targets and ingredients. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to verify the associated mechanisms. Molecular protein docking was performed to identify the targets. WEFC and its component prunin attenuated TAA-induced liver injury and reversed the changes in lipid pathway-related gene expression induced by TAA. Therefore, prunin may play an important role in protecting the liver through RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase (AKT1) activation.