Research progress on molecular mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major form of chronic liver disease in recent years. Its main clinical manifestations are insulin resistance, lipid accumulation, oxidative stress injury, inflammation, and fibrosis of the liver. The pathogenesis of NAFLD is not fully understood, and there is a lack of effective drugs in clinical treatment. Currently, the clinically recommended therapeutic regimen for NAFLD is mainly to change living habits (including diet structure, work and rest schedule, and exercise mode, etc), supplemented by drug therapy (including insulin sensitizer, antioxidant, lipid-lowering drug, and liver-protecting anti-inflammatory drug, etc). However, due to its single composition and clear target, western drugs can only improve some indicators for the complex metabolic diseases such as NAFLD, and also produce some side effects (such as elevated serum transaminase, gastrointestinal discomfort and increased liver burden). Traditional Chinese medicine has the advantages of multi-target comprehensive treatment of NAFLD. Compound traditional Chinese medicine, single Chinese medicine and its active components against NAFLD were summarized and analyzed from the aspects of lowering blood lipid, anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, anti-fibrosis, and improving insulin resistance of the liver, so as to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of NAFLD.