Azorella compacta Organic Extracts Exacerbate Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet

Azorella compacta (A. compacta) is a shrub of the Andean Altiplano of Bolivia, Chile and Peru, consumed by local communities as a traditional medicine for several maladies such as diabetes, hepatic and inflammatory diseases. A. compacta is rich in mulinane- and azorellane-type diterpenoids. For two of these, acute hypoglycemic effects have been described, but the impact of A. compacta diterpenoids on fatty liver disease has not been investigated. Therefore, A. compacta organic fractions were prepared using petroleum ether, dichloromethane and methanol. Their content was characterized by UHPLC/MS, revealing the presence of ten diterpenoids, mainly mulinic acid, azorellanol and mulin-11,13-diene. Next, mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD), a model of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), received one of the fractions in drinking water for two weeks. After this treatment, hepatic parameters were evaluated. The A. compacta fractions did not reduce hyperglycemia or body weight in the HFD-fed mice but increased the serum levels of hepatic transaminases (AST and ALT), reduced albumin and increased bilirubin, indicating hepatic damage, while histopathological alterations such as steatosis, inflammation and necrosis generated by the HFD were, overall, not ameliorated by the fractions. These results suggest that organic A. compacta extracts may generate hepatic complications in patients with MAFLD.

Notas

Indexación: Scopus.

Palabras clave

Azorella compacta, azorellane, diterpenoids, metabolic syndrome, mulinane, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Citación

Pharmaceuticals Open Access Volume 17, Issue 6 June 2024 Article number 746

DOI

10.3390/ph17060746

URI

https://repositorio.unab.cl/handle/ria/58617

Colecciones

FCE - Artículos de Revista

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