Study On The Treatment Of Chrysalis Oil For High-fat Steatohepatitis In Rats And Its Possible Mechanisms

Objective: To study on the treatment of chrysalis oil for high-fat steatohepatitis in rats and its possible mechanisms.Methods: The rat model of high-fat steatohepatitis was induced by orally feeding fat milk by gavage, and these rats was then treated with chrysalis oil 2 ml/kg or 4ml/kg for 4 weeks, respectively. The serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), free fatty acid (FFA), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was determined by colorimetric methods, respectively, and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) was then obtained by calculation. The rat liver was weighed to get the hepatic weight coefficient, the contents of TC, TG, FFA, reduced glutathione hormone (GSH) as well as the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in hepatic tissue were also determined. The hepatic histological change was examined with light microscope. In addition, we used RT-PCR method to detect the mRNA expressions of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-αand peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γ.Results: Compared with control group, the serum levels of TC, TG, LDL-C and FFA in model group, as well as the hepatic weight coefficient, contents of TC and TG in liver were significantly increased (P <0.01), while hepatic GSH content was reduced (P <0.05). After rats were treated with chrysalis oil 2ml/kg and 4ml/kg for 4 weeks, the levels of TC, TG, LDL-C and FFA in serum were significantly lowered (P <0.01 or P <0.05), and decreased by 24.0% -32.0%, 20.0% -29.1%, 26.2% -32.8%, and 20.0% -21.7%, respectively. The hepatic TC and TG contents had no obviously changes, but hepatic FFA content in chrysalis oil 4ml/kg group was increased obviously (P<0.05). Compared with model group, serum ALT, AST and hepatic SOD activity had not any significant changes, but liver GSH content was obviously increased by chrysalis oil 4ml/kg treatment (P <0.05), and increased to 41.5%. Hepatic histological results showed that In control group, there was a structural integrity of rat hepatic tissue, and liver cord was clearly visible, no lipid vacuoles, no inflammatory cell infiltration and no necrosis were seen. In model group, rat liver contained large amounts of lipid vacuoles and inflammatory cell infiltration. After treatment with chrysalis oil, the amounts of hepatic lipid vacuoles and inflammatory cells were reduced, especially for chrysalis oil 4ml/kg group. RT-PCR results showed that the TNF-αmRNA expression in rat liver was decreased, while PPARγmRNA expression was increased obviously.Conclusion: Chrysalis oil had therapeutic effect on high-fat steatohepatitis, its mechanisms might be related to anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation, including the enhancement of hepatic GSH content and reduction of inflammatory cytokine TNF-αmRNA expression via increasing PPARγmRNA expression in hepatic tissue.