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Updated: Nov 2, 2025
Optimized Analysis of In Vivo and In Vitro Hepatic Steatosis
Published on: March 11, 2017
Danning tablets alleviate high fat diet-induced obesity and fatty liver in mice via modulating SREBP pathway
Yujie Ma1, Jinmei Li1, Zhengcai Ju1
1The Ministry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory for Standardization of Chinese Medicines, The State Administration of TCM (SATCM) Key Laboratory for New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Complex Prescriptions, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China; Shanghai R&D Center for Standardization of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Shanghai 201203, China.
Ethnopharmacological Relevance:
The traditional Chinese formula Danning tablets exhibit wide clinical applications in liver and gallbladder diseases, and currently it is reported to be effective on fatty liver disease in clinical trials. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive.
Aim Of The Study:
The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects and potential pharmacological mechanisms of Danning tablet against high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, fatty liver, and related metabolic disorders in mice.
Materials And Methods:
C57BL/6 J male mice were treated with HFD for 12 weeks to trigger obesity and fatty liver condition. Then those mice were randomly divided into 5 groups, namely HFD, Danning tablet (0.75, 1.5 or 3 g/kg bodyweight) or lovastatin (30 mg/kg bodyweight) for extra 6 weeks' treatment of HFD. Food intake and bodyweight were recorded each week. In the last week, before the mice were sacrificed, fasting blood glucose levels and insulin levels were measured. Furthermore, insulin and glucose tolerance tests were performed. Blood and hepatic lipid levels were examined, the lipid metabolism-associated gene expressions and protein levels in the liver or adipose tissues were assayed after sacrificing all mice.
Results:
Our results demonstrated that a high dose of Danning tablet (3 g/kg) treatment mitigated body weight gain, reduced blood and hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The morphology analysis showed that Danning tablets could reduce lipid accumulation in both liver and brown adipose tissue. Moreover, Danning tablets could improve fasting blood glucose levels and ameliorate glucose and insulin tolerance in HFD-induced obese mice. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the mRNA expressions of SREBP-1 and SREBP-2 as well as their target genes were remarkedly down-regulated in the liver and adipose tissue of diet-induced obesity (DIO) mice after treating those mice with Danning tablets.
Conclusion:
Our results indicated that Danning tablets could improve the obesity-induced metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and related metabolic disorders. The potential mechanism may probably involve the regulation of the SREBP pathway.
