The Effect And Mechanism Of Anti-Apoptosis On The Development Of NAFLD

Objective: (1) To investigate the role and possible mechanism of hepatocytes apoptosis in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. (2) To explore the effects and possible molecular mechanisms of cordyceps sinenis (CS) and glutathione (GSH) on hepatocytes apoptosis.Method: Rats were randomly divided into normal group, NAFL group, NASH group, CS (cordyceps sinensis) group and GSH (glutathione) group. The latter four groups were administered with high-fat diet to establish NAFLD animal models. CS group and GSH group were treated with CS and GSH respectively at the 9th week after high fat diet. Rats in NAFL group were killed at the 8th week and all animals were sacrificed at the end of the 18th week. Liver tissue sections were stained with HE and were studied under a light microscope to understand the pathological alteration. Biochemical assay and ELISA were used respectively to determine the level of SOD and TNF- α . Hepatocyte apoptosis was detected by using the TUNEL assay. Expression of TNF- α, Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3 , NF-kB P65. TNFR1 was assessed with immunohistochemistry. RT-PCR was used to determine the mRNA lever of TNF- α .Rusults: (1) In NAFL group, only steatosis, hepatocyte apoptosis was found. Besides steatosis and hepatocyte apoptosis , inflamatory-cell infiltration, necrosis, fibrosis were also present in liver tissue of NASH. (2) The level of SOD was dropped from NAFL to NASH. (3) Expression of Bax, Caspase-3 was increased both in NAFL and NASH, while NF-kB P65 and TNFR1 did not show any significant changes. (4) Compared with...