Title:Natural Aldose Reductase Inhibitor: A Potential Therapeutic Agent for Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Volume: 21
Issue: 6
Author(s): Longxin Qiu*Chang Guo
Affiliation:
- School of Life Sciences, Longyan University, Longyan 364012,China
Keywords:
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, aldose reductase inhibitor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α, oxidative
stress, inflammatory cytokine.
Abstract: Aldose reductase (AR) has been reported to be involved in the development of nonalcoholic
fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Hepatic AR is induced under hyperglycemia condition and
converts excess glucose to lipogenic fructose, which contributes in part to the accumulation of fat in
the liver cells of diabetes rodents. In addition, the hyperglycemia-induced AR or nutrition-induced AR
causes suppression of the transcriptional activity of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)
α and reduced lipolysis in the liver, which also contribute to the development of NAFLD. Moreover,
AR induction in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) may aggravate oxidative stress and the expression
of inflammatory cytokines in the liver. Here, we summarize the knowledge on AR inhibitors of
plant origin and review the effect of some plant-derived AR inhibitors on NAFLD/NASH in rodents.
Natural AR inhibitors may improve NAFLD at least in part through attenuating oxidative stress and
inflammatory cytokine expression. Some of the natural AR inhibitors have been reported to attenuate
hepatic steatosis through the regulation of PPARα-mediated fatty acid oxidation. In this review, we
propose that the natural AR inhibitors are potential therapeutic agents for NAFLD.
