[Effect of Shugan Jianpi Recipe on LXRα/FAS signaling pathway mediated hepatocyte fatty deposits in NAFLD rats].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of Shugan Jianpi Recipe (SJR) on LXRα/FAS signaling pathway mediated hepatocyte fatty deposits in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rats. METHODS: Totally 75 SPF grade male SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, i.e., the normal control group, the model group, the Shugan Recipe (SR) treatment groups, the Jianpi Recipe (JR) treatment group, and the SJR group. Except rats in the normal control group, the NAFLD rat model was duplicated using high fat diet (HFD). SR (Chaihu Shugan Powder) was administered to rats in the SR group. JR (Shenlin Baizhu Powder) was administered to rats in the JR group. SJR (Chaihu Shugan Powder plus Shenlin Baizhu Powder) was administered to rats in the SJR group. Changes of liver fat were analyzed using automatic biochemical analyzer. Liver cells were separated by low-speed centrifugation. Their activities and purities were identify using Typan blue and flow cytometry (FCM). Expression levels of LXRα and FAS mRNA in hepatocytes detected by Real-time quantitative PCR. Expression levels of LXRα and FAS protein were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: (1) Pathological results showed in the model group, hepatocytes were swollen with nucleus locating at the cell edge after oil red O staining; unequal sized small vacuoles could be seen inside cytoplasm. Some small vacuoles merged big vacuoles. All these indi- cated a NAFLD rat model was successfully established by high fat diet. Pathological structural changes could be impaired to some degree in all medicated groups, especially in the SR group. (2) Compared with the normal control group, expression levels of LXRα and FAS genes and proteins obviously increased in the model group (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, their expression levels were obviously down-regulated in the JR group and the SR group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: LXRα/FAS signaling pathway was an important signaling pathway for mediating lipid metabolism disorders of NAFLD rats. SJR could make hepatocyte fatty deposits tend to repair by adjusting the LXRα/FAS signaling pathway in NAFLD rats, which might be one of important mechanisms for SJR to prevent and cure NAFLD.