Study of betulinic acid to improve non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Objective To explore the effect of betulinic acid on NAFLD and its mechanism. Methods We used the high-fat diet animal models, with or without feeding the standard chow diet containing betulinic acid for 2 months. During this period, the body weight was monitored regularly and metabolism cage was used to monitor the energy metabolism of the animals. After killing the mice, molecular biological analysis was performed on serum and tissue related to liver. Results In diet induced obese mice animal experiments, the mice body weight had been reduced and NAFLD had been improved significantly by betulinic acid. The various indexs of serum and liver tissue had also been significantly improved. The metabolic rate increased significantly. Fatty acid synthase gene and protein levels were significantly lower. Furthermore, FAS activity was significantly lower than the control mice. Liver FAS activity of the high fat mice and the high fat mice treated with betulinic acid were (1 873.6±85.7) and (1 181.6±85.7) pmol NADPH/min/mg protein, respectively. Conclusion Betulinic acid inhibited FAS at expression and activity level, and improved lipid deposition in liver. (Chin J Endocrinol Metab, 2018, 34: 939-945) Key words: High-fat diet; Obese mice; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Fatty acid synthase