Effect of Extract from the Stems of Schisandra chinensis on High Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of extract from the stems of Schisandra chinensis(SCE) on high-fat diet (HFD) induced obesity in mice. METHODS: The model of HFD induced obese model of C57BL/6J mice for 8 weeks was established. The contents of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TCHO), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) and hepatic triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (T-CHO), glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde(MDA) were measured. The pathological changes with H&E staining and oil red O was observed for investigating the effect of SCE in the obese mice. In addition, the assay of CYP2E1, 4-HNE using immunofluorescence staining and the expression of iNOS and COX-2 protein with Western blot analyzing was measured to explore the effect of SCE on lipid peroxidation and inflammatory response. RESULTS: Compared with the HFD group, low and high dose groups of SCE significantly reduced the serum AST, ALT, TG, T-CHO, LDL-C and hepatic TG, TC and MDA levels, elevated the serum HDL-C and hepatic GSH levels and improved liver tissue steatosis, inflammatory infiltration and accumulation of lipid droplets, oxidative stress and inflammatory response. CONCLUSION: SCE may improve lipid metabolism in HFD induced obese mice by inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammatory response.