Olive leaf extract prevents spontaneous occurrence of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in SHR/NDmcr-cp rats

Oxidative stress may play an important role in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Oleuropein, the active constituent of olive leaf, possesses anti-oxidant, hypoglycaemic, and hypolipidaemic activities. We aimed to investigate the preventive effects of olive leaf extract on hepatic fat accumulation in a rat model of NASH.

Spontaneously hypertensive/NIH-corpulent rats were fed a diet of AIN-93G with or without olive leaf extract (500, 1000, 2000 mg/kg diet, and control; 5 rats each) for 23 weeks. Serological and histopathological findings, anti-oxidative activity, and the alteration of fatty acid synthesis in the liver were evaluated.

Histopathologically, a diet of AIN-93G containing more than 1000 mg/kg olive leaf extract had a preventive effect for the occurrence of NASH. Thioredoxin-1 expression in the liver was more evident in rats fed this diet, and 4-hydroxynonenal expression in the liver was less evident in these rats. There were no significant differences in the activities of hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase, fatty acid synthase, malic enzyme, and phosphatidic acid phosphohydrolase among the groups.

Our data suggest that olive leaf extract may help prevent NASH, presumably through its anti-oxidative activity.