| Herbal derivative |
Model |
Treatment and dosage |
Lipid regulation mechanism(s) |
Reference |
| Lycium barbarum (wolfberry, goji berry) |
Eight-week induction of NAFLD using a voluntary high-fat diet model (30% fat) in SD rats |
Daily oral feeding with 1 mg/kg LBP |
Rebalance the expression of lipogenic genes (SREBP1c and PPARγ2) and lipolytic genes (ATGL and adiponectin); Reduce circulating FFAs |
[85] |
| Garlic |
Eight-week induction of NAFLD using a voluntary high-fat diet model (30% fat) in SD rats |
Intraperitoneal injection of 200 mg/kg garlic-derived SAMC 3 times a week |
Rebalance the expression of lipogenic gene (SREBP1c) and lipolytic gene (adiponectin); Reduce circulating FFAs |
[82] |
| High-fat diet induction for 10 weeks to form NAFLD in SD rats |
Oral feeding with 2.86 g/kg aged garlic extract 5 times a week. In co-treatment with or without exercise |
Reduce visceral fat; Attenuate total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and triglycerides |
[128] |
| Five-week induction of NAFLD using high-fat diet in SD rats |
Dietary supplementation of 2% (w/w) high hydrostatic pressure extract of garlic |
Reduce the plasma levels of triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; Reduce the hepatic triglyceride and total cholesterol levels; Up-regulate the expression of apolipoprotein A-I, ABCA1 and LCAT |
[129] |
| Green tea |
Obese ob/ob mice model |
Six-week feeding of green tea extract at 0.5, 1 or 2% (w/w) |
Reduce the hepatic lipid content and alpha-tocopherol level; Restore the adiponectin level; Attenuate the expression of SREBP-1c, FAS, SCD-1 and HSL with decreased serum NEFA content |
[91,92] |
| |
Three-week NAFLD induction by high-fat diet in C57BL/6 mice |
Eight-week oral feeding with 300 mg/kg or 1200 mg/kg RGTC (grape extract-green tea catechin-L-carnitine
combination mixture) |
Reduce the plasma level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides; Down-regulate the plasma level of glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase |
[93] |
| |
Eleven-month NAFLD induction using high-fat diet in C57BL/6 mice |
Co-treatment with 0.1-0.5% (w/w) tea catechins |
Decrease visceral and hepatic fat accumulation; Increase the expression of acyl-CoA oxidase and medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase |
[94] |
| Resveratrol |
Ten-week induction for NAFLD using high-fat diet in Wistar rats (in vivo); HepG2 incubated with high
concentration of glucose (25 mM) and insulin (100 nM) to induce steatosis (in vitro) |
Oral administration with 100 mg/kg resveratrol (in vivo); HepG2 cells were exposed to 10, 25, and 50 μM resveratrol for 6 or 24 h (in vitro). |
Improve insulin resistance and triacylglycerol accumulation; Promote the activity of AMPK; Suppress the expression of SREBP-1c and FAS |
[104] |
| Fifteen-week NAFLD induction with high-fat diet in C57Bl/6J mice |
Dietary form of 200 or 400 mg/kg/day resveratrol |
Increase aerobic capacity; Decrease PGC-1α acetylation but increase PGC-1α activity; Activate SIRT1 |
[105] |
| HepG2 cell was exposed to 0.05-0.3 mM palmitate for 24 h to induce steatosis |
Co-treatment with 0.4 μM resveratrol |
Up-regulate the expression of SIRT1 and FoxO1; Reduce the expression and activity of SREBP1 |
[106] |
| Obese fa/fa Zucker rats |
Six-week oral feeding with 15 mg/kg or 45 mg/kg resveratrol |
Reduce hepatic triacylglycerol; Increase the activity of CPT-Iα and ACO; Reduce the content of NEFA and ALP |
[107] |
| Milk thistle |
NAFLD patients |
Food supplement containing silybum marianum (epaclin 3.5 g) was given twice a day, 6 months |
Improve fat accumation through the reduction of γGT |
[110] |
| NAFLD patients |
Four pieces/day of the complex silybin-vitamin E-phospholipids for 6 months and another six months of follow up |
Improve insulin resistance through down-regulation of γGT |
[111] |
| |
Obese db/db mice were fed with methionine-choline deficient (MCD) diet for 4 weeks to induce NAFLD |
Daily i.p. injection of 20 mg/kg silibinin |
Restore the expression and activity of SCD-1; Induce the expression and activity of acyl-CoA oxidase and the expression of liver fatty acid-binding protein |
[112] |
| Curcumin |
Obese ob/ob mice model for 21 weeks |
Oral fed with 1% or 3% curcumin in a dietary form (w/w) |
Reduce serum triglyceride level; Down-regulate SREBP-1c |
[113] |
| Isolated HSCs were stimulated by LDL to evaluate the effects of curcumin |
Co-treatment with 0-30 µM curcumin for 24 h |
Decrease LDL receptor abundance and cellular cholesterol; Activate PPARγ and differentially regulate the expression of SREBPs |
[114] |
| Coffee |
Wistar rats were fed with high-fat diet for 3 months to induce NAFLD |
Oral feeding with decaffeinated coffee or coffee polyphenols
or melanoidins |
Reduce hepatic fat content; Attenuate lipid peroxidation; Increase the expression of adiponection receptor and PPARγ |
[117] |
ABCA1, ATP-Binding Cassette Transporter A1, ACO: Acyl-Coenzyme A Oxidase, ALP: Alkaline Phosphatase, ATGL: Adipose Triglyceride Lipase, CPT-Iα: Carnitine
Palmitoyltransferase-Iα, FAS: Fatty Acid Synthase, FFA: Free Fatty Acid, GT: Glutamyl-Transpeptidase, Hscs: Hepatic Stellate Cells, HSL: Hormone-Sensitive Lipase,
Foxo1: Forkhead Box Protein O1, LCAT: Lecithin:Cholesterol Acyltransferase, LDL: Low Density Lipopeotein, NAFLD: Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, NEFA:
Nonesterified Fatty Acid, PGC-1α: Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator-1-Α, PPAR: Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor, SCD-1:
Stearoyl Coa Desaturase-1, SD: Sprague-Dawley, SIRT1: Sirtuin 1, SREBP-1c: Sterol Regulatory-Element-Binding Protein-1c;