title: Paeoniflorin alleviates non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in rats: Involvement with the ROCK/NF-κB pathway.
abstract: Paeoniflorin (PF) is one of the major active ingredients of Paeonia lactiflora and has been suggested as a dietary therapy for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH); however, the involved mechanism remains obscure. The present work investigates the anti-inflammatory effects of PF and explores the possible mechanisms in a rat model of NASH. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high-cholesterol and high-fat (HCF) diet for 12weeks to induce the NASH model, and PF (20mg/kg/d) was orally administered to the NASH rats during the last four weeks of the study. Our results showed that PF significantly decreased serum alanine transferase (ALT) and aspartate transferase (AST) activities and also significantly decreased total levels of cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) (all P<0.05). Moreover, PF ameliorated the hepatic steatosis and inflammation and inhibited CD68 and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)-1 expression (both P<0.05). PF also down-regulated the activity of Rho kinase (ROCK) and suppressed the activation of the nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling pathway in liver tissue. PF has liver protective and anti-inflammatory effects in HCF diet-induced NASH rats. The possible mechanisms may be associated with inhibition of the ROCK/NF-κB signaling pathway in the NASH liver.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Research on Active Ingredients in Natural Medicine of Jiangxi Province, Yichun University, Yichun 336000, China; Department of Immunology and Pathobiology, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang 050200, China.
authors.forename: Zhihong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050051, China.
authors.forename: Hongying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang 050200, China.
authors.forename: Jieru
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang 050200, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Pathobiology, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang 050200, China.
authors.forename: Wentai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Pathobiology, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang 050200, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Research on Active Ingredients in Natural Medicine of Jiangxi Province, Yichun University, Yichun 336000, China. Electronic address: ycxyyjf@163.com.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China. Electronic address: gaoyue@nic.bmi.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D004032:Diet; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005960:Glucosides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D029596:Paeonia / Q000276:immunology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D027343:Rhizome; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006027:Glycosides
chemical_list: D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D002784:Cholesterol; D005960:Glucosides; D039821:Monoterpenes; D016328:NF-kappa B; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; C015423:peoniflorin; D006027:Glycosides
keywords: NF-κB; Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; Paeoniflorin; Rho kinase