Effect of diosmetin on young rats with high-fat diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Purpose: To determine the effect of diosmetin on young, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rats. Methods: Five groups of SD rats were used: control group, high-fat diet group, low-dose diosmetin group, medium-dose diosmetin group, and high-dose diosmetin group, each with 10 rats. After 3 months, interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-1β) and TNF-α) were assayed. Protein expressions of p-AMPKα, CPT-1 and PPAR-α, AMPKα, SREBP-1c and FAS were assayed. Results: In the high-fat diet group, the levels of p-AMPKα, CPT-1 and PPAR-α were lower than the corresponding control values, while p-AMPKα, CPT-1 and PPAR-α levels were dose-dependently higher in all diosmetin groups than in NAFLD group (p < 0.05). There were higher levels of SREBP-1c and FAS in the high-fat diet group than in control group, while SREBP-1c and FAS levels in all diosmetin groups were dose-dependently lower than the corresponding levels in NAFLD group. Serum IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α levels in NAFLD group were raised, relative to control values (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Diosmetin alleviates NAFLD lesions induced by high-fat diet, slows down liver cell apoptosis, and inhibits inflammation via activation of AMPK pathway. Thus, diosmetin has potentials for use in the repair of hepatic damage induced by high-fat diet.