Amelioration effects of traditional Chinese medicine on alcohol-induced fatty liver.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on alcohol-induced fatty liver in rats. TCM consists of Astragalus membranaceus, Morus alba, Crataegus pinnatifida, Alisma orientale, Salvia miltiorrhiza, and Pueraria lobata.


METHODS
The rats were separated randomly into five groups. One (the CD group) was fed a control diet for 10 wk, another (the ED group) fed an ethanol-containing isocaloric liquid diet for 10 wk, and the last three (the TCM group) were fed an ethanol-containing isocaloric liquid diet for 10 wk and dosed orally with TCM (222 mg/kg.d, TCM222; 667 mg/kg.d, TCM667; and 2 000 mg/kg.d, TCM2000, respectively) weekly during the last 4 wk.


RESULTS
ED group developed fatty liver according to lipid profile and liver histological findings. Compared with the control group, liver/body weight, serum triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC), liver TG and TC, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartic aminotran-sferase (AST) significantly increased in the ED group. Whereas, in the rats administered with TCM, liver/body weight, serum TG and TC, liver TG and TC, serum ALT and AST were significantly decreased, and the degree of hepatic lipid droplets was markedly improved compared with those in the ED group.


CONCLUSIONS
TCM treatment causes significant reduction in alcohol-induced lipid hepatic accumulation, reversing fatty liver and liver damage, and can be used as a remedy for alcoholic fatty liver.
Kwon
Hyun-Jeong
HJ
Department of Hygienic Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, South Korea.
Kim
Yun-Young
YY
Choung
Se-Young
SY
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005235:Fatty Liver, Alcoholic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008517:Phytotherapy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D008055:Lipids; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase