Apigenin Alleviates Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease by Downregulating the NLRP3/NF-κB Signaling Pathway in Mice

Background: Apigenin, a flavone found in several plant foods with various biological properties including anti-inflammatory and other abilities, alleviated non-alcohol fatty liver disease (NAFLD) induced by a high fat diet (HFD) in mice. However, the mechanisms underlying this protection of inflammation and NAFLD has not been known clearly. Methods: Low density lipoprotein receptor-deficient (Ldlr-/-) mice were fed with HFD diet to induce NAFLD model and were treated with apigenin (50 mg/kg/day) for eight weeks. Hepatic lipid accumulation and inflammation in the livers were analyzed and quantified. In vitro experiments, HepG2 cells were stimulated by LPS plus oleic acid (OA) in the absence of presence of apigenin (50μM). Lipid accumulation and the effect of apigenin on NLRP3/NF-κB signaling pathway was investigated.Results: Apigenin administration reduce the weight, plasma lipid levels in Ldlr-/- mice when fed an HFD. Apigenin (50 mg/kg/day) treated mice displayed reduced hepatic lipid accumulation and inflammation in the livers of mice given the HFD diet. Treating the HepG2 cells with apigenin reduced lipid accumulation. And, apigenin also inhibited activation of NLRP3/NF-κB signaling pathway stimulated by OA together with LPS. Conclusions: Our results indicated that apigenin supplementation prevented NAFLD via down-regulating the NLRP3/NF-κB signaling pathway in mice, and suggested apigenin might be a potential therapeutic agent for the prevention of NAFLD.