A Review of Western and Traditional Chinese Medical Approaches to Managing Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Table 4

Cellular and animal studies of TCM for NAFLD.

Agent	Testing subjects	Function of treatment	Reference
Radix of Polygoni multiflori Moldenke, emodin, physcion, and 2,3,5,4′-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside	L02 cell line with fat emulsion medium and high conc. of FBS	Decreasing cellular TG, TC, LDL content	[52]
Houttuynia cordata Thunb.	HepG2 cell line with glucose	Decreasing hepatic glucose, TG, TC accumulation; Inhibiting SREBP-1c, GPAT	[53]
Ixeris dentata	HepG2 cell line with palmitate	Decreasing hepatic lipid accumulation, TG, TC; Inhibiting palmitate-induced ER stress	[54]
Curcumin and puerarin	HepG2 cell line with oleic acid	Decreasing lipid accumulation, TG, TC; Inhibiting SREBP-1, FAS Increase PPAR-α	[55, 56]
Hugan Qingzhi tablet	L02 and HepG2 cell line with FFAs	Decreasing lipid accumulation, TG, LDH, AST, ALT, MDA; Increasing GSH, SOD; Inhibiting SREBP-1, increase PPAR-α, CPT-1, ACOX1	[57]
Protopanaxadiol, tanshinone IIA, and emodin (active component of Jiangzhi granules)	HepG2 cell line with FFAs	Decreasing lipid accumulation, ROS	[58]
Fruit of Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis	Sprague Dawley rats with high fat diet	Decreasing hepatic TG, FFA, AST, ALT; Inhibiting FAS, malonyl-CoA, ACC	[59]
Ginsenoside Re	HepG2 cell line; C57BL/6J mice with high fat diet	Decreasing glucose production, TG, FFA, insulin, HOMA-IR; Inhibiting SREBP-1c, FAS, GPAT	[60]
Fruit of Rosa laevigata Michx.	Wistar rats with high fat diet	Decreasing hepatic lipid accumulation, FFA, TG, TC, LDL, AST, ALT; Increasing GSH; Inhibiting SREBP-1c, FAS, ACC, GPAT Increase PPAR-α, CPT-1	[61]
Lycium barbarum L.	HepG2 cell line with palmitate; C57BL/6J mice with high fat diet	Decreasing mice weight, hepatic lipid accumulation, blood glucose, TG, TC, LDL, AST, ALT, FFA; Inhibiting SREBP-1c, FAS, ACC; Increasing CPT-1	[62]
Yin-Chen-Hao-Tang	Hamsters with high fat diet	Decreasing balloon hepatocytes, TG, FFA, TNF-α; increasing adiponectin, GSH; Inhibiting FAS; increasing PPAR-α	[63]
keishibukuryogan	White rabbit	Decreasing hepatic lipid accumulation, plasma and liver oxidative stress, liver fibrosis	[64]
Salvia-Nelumbinis naturalis (Jiangzhi granules)	HepG2 cell line with FFAs; Wistar rat with high caloric diet	Decreasing hepatic lipid accumulation, TG, hepatic glycogen, TG, LDL, FFA; Improving insulin sensitivity	[65]
Yiqihuoxue formula	Sprague Dawley rats with high fat diet	Decreasing rat weight, hepatic lipid accumulation, TG, ALT	[66]

ACC: Acetyl-CoA carboxylase; ACOX1: acyl-CoA oxidase 1; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; CPT-1: carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1; ER: endoplasmic reticulum; FAS: fatty acid synthase; FBS: fetal bovine serum; FFAs: free fatty acids; GSH: glutathione; GPAT: glycerol 3-phosphate acyltransferases; HOMA-IR: homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance; LDH: lactate dehydrogenase; LDL: low-density lipoprotein; MDA: malondialdehyde; PPAR: peroxisome proliferator activated receptor; NAFLD: nonalcohol fatty liver disease; ROS: reactive oxygen species; SOD: superoxide dismutase; SREBP: sterol regulatory element-binding proteins; TCM: traditional Chinese medicine; TG: triglyceride; TC: total cholesterol.