Chaihu Shugan powder influences nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in rats in remodeling microRNAome and decreasing fatty acid synthesis

Zheng C, Nie H, Pan M, Fan W, Pi D, Liang Z, Liu D, Wang F, Yang Q, Zhang Y · Journal of Ethnopharmacology · 2024 January

DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2023.116967

Objective

To investigate the effects of Chaihu Shugan powder on the microRNA expression profile of high-fat-diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease rats and explore its therapeutic mechanism.

Conclusions

Chaihu Shugan powder significantly reduces hepatic lipid accumulation in high-fat-diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty disease rats by regulating 15 microRNAs, including miR-34a-5p, miR-146a-5p, miR-20b-5p, and miR-142-3p, and decreasing the expression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase alpha, fatty acid synthase, and other enzymes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis.

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Insights

Chaihu Shugan powder significantly lessens liver lipid accumulation in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease models, possibly through regulation of specific microRNAs.

The research used nonalcoholic fatty liver disease models created by subjecting rats to an 8-week high-fat diet. The impact of Chaihu Shugan powder on the disease was studied using a variety of methods including physiological, biochemical and pathological analysis, and a hepatic surface microcirculation perfusion test. In addition, the experiment explored Chaihu Shugan powder's effect on the microRNA expression profile of the diseased rats, using microRNA sequencing. Then, using a network pharmacological approach, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology analyses were performed on the common target genes of Chaihu Shugan powder, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and differently-expressed microRNAs. The findings revealed that treatment with Chaihu Shugan powder significantly improved outcomes in the rats — it notably decreased liver lipid accumulation and levelled serum lipid and transaminase. Alongside this, it was observed that Chaihu Shugan powder intervention reversed the hyper-expression of 15 microRNAs in the rats' liver tissues. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that Chaihu Shugan powder might exert its beneficial effects by influencing microRNAs related to fatty acid metabolic processes. Additionally, molecular biology experiments revealed lower gene and protein levels of acetyl-CoA carboxylase alpha and fatty acid synthase after treatment, indicating a reduction in fatty acid biosynthesis.