Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (
NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic
liver disease and continues to rise in the worldwide.
Limonin is a
triterpenoid compound widely found in the fruits of citrus plants with a wide range of pharmacological effects, including anti-
cancer, anti-
inflammation, anti-viral, anti-oxidation and liver protection properties. However, the potential molecular mechanism of
limonin on
NAFLD in zebrafish remains unknown. In this study, zebrafish larvae were exposed to
thioacetamide to establish an
NAFLD model and the larvae were treated with
limonin for 72 h simultaneously. The human liver cell line was stimulated with
lipid mixture and meanwhile incubated with
limonin for 24 h. The results showed that
Limonin significantly reduced the accumulation of lipid droplets in the liver and down-regulated the levels of lipogenic
transcription factors FASN and SREBP1 in
NAFLD.
Limonin suppressed macrophages infiltration and the down-regulated the relative expression levels of the pro-inflammatory factors
IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α secreted by macrophages. Besides,
limonin could reversed the reduction of
glutathione and the accumulation of
reactive oxygen species through up-regulating NRF2/HO-1 signaling pathway in the liver. In conclusion, this study revealed that
limonin has a protective effect on
NAFLD due to its resistance to
lipid deposition as well as
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions.