This study aimed to investigate the protective effect and preliminary mechanism of Danzhi Jiangtang
Capsules( DJC) on
liver of hyperlipidemic
rats. The
hyperlipidemia models were successfully made by
high-fat diet for 12 weeks in
male SD
rats,and then divided into model
control group and DJC
treatment groups( 500 and 1 000 mg·kg~(-1)·d-1) via gavage
administration for additional 8 weeks.The levels of
serum lipid and
liver metabolism indices were detected; HE and oil red O
staining were used to observe the pathological changes of
liver. Expression levels of extracellular regulated
protein kinase 1/2( ERK1/2),
c-Jun N-terminal kinase( JNK),and
p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(
p38 MAPK) were detected by
real-time polymerase chain reaction( RT-PCR). Expression of MCP-1,phosphorylated ERK( p-ERK),phosphorylated JNK( p-JNK),and phosphorylated
p38 MAPK( p-p38) were analyzed by
immunohistochemistry and
Western blot. The results showed that DJC decreased
body weight and
serum levels of total
cholesterol( TC),
triglyceride( TG),
alanine aminotransferase( ALT),
aspartate aminotransferase( AST),increased
serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol( HDL-C) level,ameliorate
injury and
lipid deposition in the
liver induced by the
high-fat diet,decreased
mRNA expression of ERK1/2,JNK and p-38 MAPK as well as
protein expression of p-ERK,p-JNK,p-p38,and MCP-1,somewhat showing a
dose-dependent effect. Therefore,DJC has an obvious protective effect on
liver of hyperlipidemic
rats with certain
dose-dependent effect,and the mechanism may be related with inhibiting MAPK pathways and
inflammation.