Fang Li,1 Rong Xie,1 Tianlun Li,1 Shouzhong Ren2 

1Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou City, Hainan Province, People’s Republic of China; 2College of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, HaiKou City, Hainan Province, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Fang Li, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, No. 33, Longhua Road, Longhua District, Haikou City, Hainan Province, 570102, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-15308966331, Email doctor8988745@163.com

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) refers to the liver pathological changes caused by excessive fat accumulation in hepatocytes owing to various reasons, which has become an emerging health challenge. Erhong Jiangzhi Decoction (EHJD) is a traditional Chinese medicine decoction. This study aims to investigate the therapeutic effect of EHJD on NAFLD.
Methods: NAFLD model was constructed by high-fat diet (HFD)-induced mice and oleic acid-induced HepG2 cells. Mice were intragastrically administered with EHJD and HepG2 cells were treated with EHJD drug-containing serum. The effects of EHJD on NAFLD were explored in vivo and in vitro. Histological assessment was performed by hematoxylin-eosin and oil red O staining. ELISA was exploited to detect the expression of lipid accumulation, liver function, inflammation, and oxidative stress related indicators. The expression of Nrf2/HO-1 pathway was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot.
Results: In HFD-induced NAFLD mice, the body weight was increased, and liver/weight, inguinal fat/weight, and epididymal fat/weight were higher, while EHJD reduced them. Staining results exhibited that EHJD decreased inflammatory cell infiltration and oil red lipid droplets in HFD-induced mice. In addition, EHJD treatment suppressed TC, TG, ALT and AST levels; TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and MDA levels were inhibited by EHJD, while GSH-Px, CAT and T-AOC levels were increased in NAFLD through the in vivo and in vitro experiments. The suppression of Nrf2 weakened the inhibitory effect of EHJD on lipid metabolism, liver injury, inflammation and oxidative stress.
Conclusion: EHJD had a protective effect on NAFLD by alleviating lipid accumulation and liver injury, inhibiting inflammation, and oxidative stress, which was achieved by the restoration of Nrf2.

Keywords: Erhong Jiangzhi Decoction, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, lipid accumulation, Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, oxidative stress