Bai-Hu-Jia-Ren-Shen-Tang Decoction Reduces Fatty Liver by Activating AMP-Activated Protein Kinase In Vitro and In Vivo.
Obesity and associated conditions, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), are currently a worldwide health problem. In Asian traditional medicine, Bai-Hu-Jia-Ren-Shen-Tang (BHJRST) is widely used in diabetes patients to reduce thirst. However, whether it has a therapeutic effect on T2DM or NAFLD is not known. The aim of this study was to examine whether BHJRST had a lipid-lowering effect using a HuS-E/2 cell model of fatty liver induced by palmitate and in a db/db mouse model of dyslipidemia. Incubation of HuS-E/2 cells with palmitate markedly increased lipid accumulation and expression of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), which is involved in lipolysis. BHJRST significantly decreased lipid accumulation and increased ATGL levels and phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its primary downstream target, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), which are involved in fatty acid oxidation. Furthermore, after twice daily oral administration for six weeks, BHJRST significantly reduced hepatic fat accumulation in db/db mice, as demonstrated by increased hepatic AMPK and ACC phosphorylation, reduced serum triglyceride levels, and reduced hepatic total lipid content. The results show that BHJRST has a lipid-lowering effect in the liver that is mediated by activation of the AMPK signaling pathway.
National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Taipei 11221, Taiwan ; Ph.D. Program for the Clinical Drug Discovery from Botanical Herbs, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan.
Hui-Kang
HK
Liu
Department of Medical Research, E-DA Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan.
Tzu-Min
TM
Hung
Department of Applied Science, National Hsinchu University of Education, Hsinchu 30014, Taiwan.
Hsiu-Chen
HC
Huang
National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
I-Jung
IJ
Lee
School of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10051, Taiwan.
Chia-Chuan
CC
Chang
National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
Jing-Jy
JJ
Cheng
National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
Lie-Chwen
LC
Lin
National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
Cheng
C
Huang