1. Qom University of Medical Sciences 2. Qom University of Medical Sciences
Abstract
Introduction
Background and objectives: nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (nash) is defined by steatosis and inflammation in the hepatocytes that can progress to cirrhosis and possibly hepatocellular carcinoma. however, current treatments are entirely not effective. allantoin is one of the principal compounds in the many plants and has positive effects on cognitive function, glucose metabolism and inflammation. in this study, we evaluated the effects of allantoin on the nash induced animals and involved pathways.
Methods
Materials and methods: c57/bl6 male mice received saline and allantoin as the control groups. in the next group, nash was induced by mcd diet for 8 weeks. in the nash+allantoin group, allantoin was injected 4 weeks in the mice feeding mcd diet. after 8 weeks, the abdomen was excised via midline incision; the liver was immediately removed, washed in ice-cold physiological saline and kept at –70 °c. histopathological evaluations (hematoxylin & eosine staining) and real-time rt-pcr were performed.
Results
Results: allantoin administration decreased hepatic lipid droplet accumulation. treatment with allantoin downregulated mrna expression of sterol regulator element binding proteins (srebp1c) and fatty acid synthase (fas). peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (pparα), apolipoprotein b (apo b) and acyl-coa cholesterol acyltransferase (acat1) genes expression increased after allantoin administration.
Conclusion
Conclusion: this study indicated that allantoin could improve animals induced nash by changes in the expression of lipid metabolism related genes.
