Therapeutic effect of curcumin on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in rats and its influence on the expression of leptin in liver

Objective 　To study the therapeutic effect of curcumin on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in rats and its influence on the expression of leptin in liver. Methods 　We used high fat diet induced NAFLD model in rats, and established normal control group, NAFLD model group and three treatment groups with different concentrations of curcumin. The liver indexes were calculated by weighing the body masses and the liver masses of the rats in each group. We detected the triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) in the serum of rats by biochemical methods. Pathological changes of the liver tissues were detected by HE staining. We detected the leptin protein and mRNA in liver tissues of rats by immunohistochemical method and PCR method respectively. Results 　Compared with the NAFLD model group, the liver indexes and the contents of TC and TG were decreased in the different treatment groups, and fatty degeneration of the liver tissue was significantly reduced. Compared with the normal control group, the expression levels of leptin mRNA and protein were significantly higher in the NAFLD model group (P<0.05). Compared with the NAFLD model group, the expression levels of leptin mRNA and protein were significantly reduced in the liver tissue of the different treatment groups (P<0.05), while the expression levels of leptin mRNA and protein were lowest in the treatment group with high dose curcumin (P<0.01). Conclusion 　Curcumin can reduce the fatty degeneration of liver tissue of NAFLD induced by high fat diet and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of expression of leptin in the liver tissue. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2016.11.06