RESUMO
Oxidative stress and excess hepatic lipid accumulation contribute to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Radix Hedysari polysaccharides (RHP) have attracted interest due to their antioxidant properties and immunomodulatory effects. However, the effect of RHP on hepatic lipid metabolism remains to be elucidated. In the present study, the response of SpragueDawley rat livers to a highfat diet and RHP treatment was investigated by evaluating body weight, liver histology, hepatic lipid content, adenosine monophosphateactivated protein kinase (AMPK) activity and lipid metabolism gene transcriptional profiles. The present study demonstrated that RHP ameliorated lipid metabolism disorders, regulated hepatic lipid content, improved liver inflammation and damage, activated AMPK via phosphorylation, upregulated peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor α and downregulated the mRNA expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein1c in rat livers, which reduced lipogenesis and increased lipolysis. Taken together, these results suggested that RHP effectively ameliorates lipid metabolism disorders in rat livers; thus, RHP may be a potential therapeutic agent in the prevention of hepatic steatosis.