The combination of berberine, tocotrienols and coffee extracts improves metabolic profile and liver steatosis. - GreenMedInfo Summary

Non-alcoholic-fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is spreading worldwide. Specific drugs for NAFLD are not yet available, even if some plant extracts show beneficial properties. We evaluated the effects of a combination, composed byand, on the development of obesity, hepatic steatosis, insulin-resistance and on the modulation of hepatic microRNAs (miRNA) levels and microbiota composition in a mouse model of liver damage. C57BL/6 mice were fed with standard diet (SD,= 8), high fat diet (HFD,= 8) or HFD plus plant extracts (HFD+E,= 8) for 24 weeks. Liver expression of miR-122 and miR-34a was evaluated by quantitativePCR. Microbiome analysis was performed on cecal content by 16S rRNA sequencing. HFD+E-mice showed lower body weight (<0.01), amelioration of insulin-sensitivity (= 0.021), total cholesterol (= 0.014), low-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (<0.001), alanine-aminotransferase (= 0.038) and hepatic steatosis compared to HFD-mice. While a decrease of hepatic miR-122 and increase of miR-34a were observed in HFD-mice compared to SD-mice, both these miRNAs had similar levels to SD-mice in HFD+E-mice. Moreover, a different microbial composition was found between SD- and HFD-mice, with a partial rescue of dysbiosis in HFD+E-mice. This combination of plant extracts had a beneficial effect on HFD-induced NAFLD by the modulation of miR-122, miR-34a and gut microbiome.