Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common chronic liver disease characterized by hepatic steatosis, affects 30-40% of the population in the world. The seed of Euryale ferox salisb. possesses several pharmacological actions, including metabolic syndrome. However, the seed coat of E. ferox was usually discarded as waste, which contains comparatively abundant polyphenols, and its biological activity has been rarely investigated. In this work, we evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of E. ferox seed coat extract (EFSCE), in NAFLD mice induced by high-fat diet (HFD). The HPLC-MS analysis indicated that the main components of EFSCE were polyphenols. And then, mice were treated with HFD for 4 weeks to induce NAFLD. The result showed that the body weight, weight of adipose tissue, the ratio of liver to body weight in NAFLD mice increased compared with control group. In addition, blood lipids parameters including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) also increased in NAFLD mouse model. It was showed that, after treated with EFSCE (15 and 30 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks, the body weight, lipids deposition in the liver and blood lipids in HFD-induced NAFLD mice markedly reduced. Compared with NAFLD mice, EFSCE administration could also prevent malondialdehyde (MDA) overproduction and strengthen Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activity to counteract oxidative stress. Moreover, EFSCE was also found effective in reducing alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity in HFD-induced NAFLD model, which indicated liver injury in NAFLD. Therefore, EFSCE (rich in polyphenols) is indicated as bioactive nature product for HFD-induced NAFLD treatment, by eliminating lipid accumulation and oxidative stress via regulation of IRs-1 and CYP2E1.
Keywords: CYP2E1; IRs-1; high-fat diet; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; oxidative stress; seed coat of Euryale ferox.