Effects of treatment with hydrogen sulfide on methionine‐choline deficient diet‐induced non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis in rats

Background and Aim Oxidative stress and inflammation play important roles in the progression from simple fatty liver to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The aim of this work was to investigate whether treatment with hydrogen sulfide (H2S) prevented NASH in rats through abating oxidative stress and suppressing inflammation. Methods A methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) diet rat model was prepared. Rats were divided into three experimental groups and fed for 8 weeks as follows: (i) control rats; (ii) MCD-diet-fed rats; (iii) MCD-diet-fed rats treated with NaHS (intraperitoneal injection of 0.1 mL/kg/day of 0.28 mol/L NaHS, a donor of H2S). Results MCD diet impaired hepatic H2S biosynthesis in rats. Treatment with H2S prevented MCD-diet-induced NASH, as evidenced by hematoxylin and eosin staining, reduced apoptosis and activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, and attenuated hepatic fat accumulation in rats. Treatment with H2S abated MCD-diet-induced oxidative stress through reducing cytochrome p4502E1 expression, enhancing heme oxygenase-1 expression, and suppressing mitochondrial reactive oxygen species formation, and suppressed MCD-diet-induced inflammation through suppressing activated nuclear factor κB signaling and reducing interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor α expressions. In addition, treatment of MCD-diet fed rats with H2S had a beneficial modulation on expression profiles of fatty acid metabolism genes in livers. Conclusions Treatment with H2S prevented NASH induced by MCD diet in rats possibly through abating oxidative stress and suppressing inflammation.