2. Academic Validation
  3. Hepatoprotective effects of polysaccharide from Morchella esculenta are associated with activation of the AMPK/Sirt1 signaling pathway in mice with NAFLD

Hepatoprotective effects of polysaccharide from Morchella esculenta are associated with activation of the AMPK/Sirt1 signaling pathway in mice with NAFLD

  • Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Apr:301:140444. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140444.
Dandan Wang 1,  Menglian Zhang 2,  Yaowen Zhang 2,  Zequn Yin 3,  Shuang Zhang 4,  Zhiwei Zhao 5,  Yajun Duan 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui 230011, China; College of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China.
  • 2 School of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui 230011, China.
  • 3 Department of Cardiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China.
  • 4 College of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China.
  • 5 Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China. Electronic address: zzw2020@ustc.edu.cn.
  • 6 Department of Cardiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China. Electronic address: yajunduan@ustc.edu.cn.
PMID: 39884630 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140444
Abstract

The functional food application of edible fungus Polysaccharides has been widely studied based on their variety of potential pharmacological activities. However, the hepatoprotective effects and mechanisms of Morchella esculenta polysaccharide against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain unknown. A high-fat diet (HFD) fed C57BL/6 J mice for 8 weeks was employed to establish NAFLD with simple steatosis, methionine choline deficiency (MCD) diet for 4 weeks induced hepatic steatohepatitis and fibrosis. The M. esculenta polysaccharide (MCP) or saline was administered intragastrically. MCP markedly reduced hepatic and serum triglyceride (TG) and Cholesterol contents in HFD-fed mice. Moreover, treatment with MCP ameliorated nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) progression in MCD-fed mice, as evidenced by ameliorated hepatic steatosis, inflammatory response, and fibrosis. Mechanistically, MCP suppressed the expression of lipogenic genes and inflammatory cytokines and upregulated Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor (PPAR)-α expression to induce fatty acid β-oxidation. These beneficial effects were attributed to activating the AMP-activated kinase (AMPK)/Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) signaling pathway. Therefore, we provided evidence that MCP might be an effective dietary supplement to ameliorate NAFLD.

Keywords

AMPK/Sirt1; Morchella esculenta polysaccharide; NAFLD.

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