β-Sitosterol Reduces the Content of Triglyceride and Cholesterol in a High-Fat Diet-Induced Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Model
2024
Peng Zhang | Naicheng Liu | Mingyang Xue | Mengjie Zhang | Zidong Xiao | Chen Xu | Yuding Fan | Junqiang Qiu | Qinghua Zhang | Yong Zhou
Objective: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is strongly associated with hyperlipidemia, which is closely related to high levels of sugar and fat. β-sitosterol is a natural product with significant hypolipidemic and cholesterol-lowering effects. However, the underlying mechanism of its action on aquatic products is not completely understood. Methods: A high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD zebrafish model was successfully established, and the anti-hyperlipidemic effect and potential mechanism of β-sitosterol were studied using oil red O staining, filipin staining, and lipid metabolomics. Results: β-sitosterol significantly reduced the accumulation of triglyceride, glucose, and cholesterol in the zebrafish model. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that differential lipid molecules in β-sitosterol mainly regulated the lipid metabolism and signal transduction function of the zebrafish model. β-sitosterol mainly affected steroid biosynthesis and steroid hormone biosynthesis in the zebrafish model. Compared with the HFD group, the addition of 500 mg/100 g of β-sitosterol significantly inhibited the expression of <i>Ppar-γ</i> and <i>Rxr-α</i> in the zebrafish model by at least 50% and 25%, respectively. Conclusions: β-sitosterol can reduce lipid accumulation in the zebrafish model of NAFLD by regulating lipid metabolism and signal transduction and inhibiting adipogenesis and lipid storage.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Directory of Open Access Journals