Dolichos lablab Protects Against Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Mice Fed High-Fat Diets

Hyacinth bean, Dolichos lablab or Lablab purpureus, has been used for centuries in India and China as an edible pod and animal forage, as well as to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disease in traditional Korean medicine. Recently, we have demonstrated that D. lablab extract (DLL-Ex) prevented free fatty acid-induced lipid accumulation in an in vitro cellular nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) model. In this study, we, thus, aimed at clarifying the hepatoprotective effects of DLL-Ex in a high-fat diet-induced in vivo animal NAFLD model, as well as at elucidating underlying mechanisms of identified effects. Sixty, 6-week-old, male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into six groups: a control group fed a low-fat diet, four high-fat diet (HFD) groups, three receiving daily oral supplementation of DLL-Ex (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day), and one HFD group receiving daily oral supplementation of MILK (100 mg/kg/day). Effects of DLL-Ex supplementation were evaluated by histopathological and histochemical assessments. DLL-Ex supplementation inhibited HFD-induced increases in body weight and body fat mass and ameliorated increases in body weight, manifested as decreased liver function tests, lower serum triglycerides and cholesterol levels, and increased serum adiponectin levels. The expression of hepatic genes involved in lipid droplet accumulation and in fatty acid uptake was also decreased. We provide evidence of a protective effect of DLL-Ex against HFD-induced fatty liver disease in an animal model.