BACKGROUND Obesity and its associated health conditions, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), are worldwide health problems. It has been shown that insulin resistance is associated with increased hepatic lipid and causes hepatic steatosis through a myriad of mechanisms, including inflammatory signaling. METHODS Helminthostachys zeylanica (HZ) is used widely as a common herbal medicine to relieve fever symptoms and inflammatory diseases in Asia. In the present study, we evaluated whether HZ has therapeutic effects on obesity, NAFLD and insulin resistance. The protective effects of HZ extract were examined using free fatty acid-induced steatosis in human HuS-E/2 cells and a high-fat diet-induced NAFLD in mice. RESULTS The major components of the HZ extract are ugonins J and K, confirmed by HPLC. Incubation of human hepatocytes, HuS-E/2 cells, with palmitate markedly increased lipid accumulation and treatment with the HZ extract significantly decreased lipid deposition and facilitated AMPK and ACC activation. After 12 weeks of a high-fat diet with HZ extract treatment, the HFD mice were protected from hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia. HZ extract prevented body weight gain, adipose tissue expansion and adipocyte hypertrophy in the HFD mice. In addition, fat accumulation was reduced in mice livers. Moreover, the insulin sensitivity-associated index, which evaluates insulin function, was also significantly restored. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that HZ has a promising pharmacological effect on high-fat diet-induced obesity, hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance, which may have the potential for clinical application.

中文翻译：

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Helminthostachys zeylanica减轻饮食诱发的肥胖小鼠的肝脏脂肪变性和胰岛素抵抗。

背景技术肥胖及其相关的健康状况，2型糖尿病（T2DM）和非酒精性脂肪肝疾病（NAFLD）是全世界的健康问题。已经显示出胰岛素抵抗与肝脂质增加有关，并通过包括炎症信号传导在内的多种机制引起肝脂肪变性。方法在亚洲，广泛使用Helminthostachys zeylanica（HZ）作为缓解发烧症状和炎性疾病的常用草药。在本研究中，我们评估了HZ是否对肥胖症，NAFLD和胰岛素抵抗具有治疗作用。使用游离脂肪酸诱导的人HuS-E / 2细胞脂肪变性和高脂饮食诱导的NAFLD小鼠检测HZ提取物的保护作用。结果HZ提取物的主要成分为ugonins J和K，通过HPLC确认。用棕榈酸酯孵育人肝细胞，HuS-E / 2细胞会显着增加脂质积聚，并使用HZ提取物进行处理可显着降低脂质沉积并促进AMPK和ACC活化。经过HZ提取物高脂饮食12周后，HFD小鼠免受高脂血症和高血糖症的侵害。HZ提取物可防止HFD小鼠体重增加，脂肪组织扩张和脂肪细胞肥大。另外，减少了小鼠肝脏中的脂肪积累。此外，评估胰岛素功能的胰岛素敏感性相关指数也得到了显着恢复。结论这些结果表明，HZ对高脂饮食诱导的肥胖，肝脂肪变性和胰岛素抵抗具有良好的药理作用，可能具有临床应用潜力。