Mechanism of Fuzilizhong decoction alleviating inflammatory damage of rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

AIM To observe the effect of Fuzilizhong decoction on the inflammatory damage of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease （NAFLD） rats and to explore its mechanism. METHODS SPF male SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups： control group， model group， high dose （20 mg·kg^-1·d^-1）， middle dose （10 mg·kg^-1·d^-1）， low dose （5 mg·kg^-1·d^-1） Fuzilizhong decoction group and Yishanfu （30 mg·kg^-1·d^-1）group， 8 rats in each group. A NAFLD rat modelwas established by intragastric administration of fat emulsion for 4 weeks. Then the drug was given for 4 weeks in each treatment group. HE staining was performed to observe the histopathological changes of the rat liver.The serum levels of interleukin-2（IL-2）， IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） were measured by ELISA. The expression of toll like receptor 4（TLR4） and NF-κB p65 in liver tissues at mRNA and protein levels was determined by RT-qPCR and Western bolt，respectively. RESULTS Compared with control group， the inflammatory damage of liver tissue was more serious， the serum levels of IL-2， IL-6 and TNF-α， the mRNA expression TLR4 and NF-κB p65 in liver tissues were significantly increased in model group（P<0.05）. However， compared with model group， the liver pathological changes in each treatment group were significantly relieved， the serum levels of IL-2， IL-6 and TNF-α， the mRNA expression of TLR4 and NF-κB p65 in liver tissues were significantly reduced（P<0.05）.In addition， the changes of TLR4 and p-NF-κB p65 protein levels in liver tissue were consistent with the changes of TLR4 and NF-κB p65 mRNA. CONCLUSION Fuzilizhong decoction attenuates the inflammatory damages of NAFLD in rats by inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB p65 signaling pathway.