Effects of Yinchenhao Decoction () for Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis in Rats and Study of the Mechanism

To observe the effects of Yinchenhao Decoction (see text) for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in rats and study the mechanism.Total 18 male SD rats were randomly divided into a normal control group, a model group and a treatment group, 6 rats in each group. Rats in the model and treatment groups were fed with high-fat forage for 10 weeks to prepare the NASH model, and the rats in the treatment group were administrated with Yinchenhao Decoction from the 6th week for 5 weeks. All rats were sacrificed at the end of the 10th week and the samples were collected. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) level, and hepatic triglyceride (TG) and free fatty acid (FFA) contents were determined. Hepatic pathological changes were detected by HE staining.Serum ALT activity, TNF-alpha level, hepatic TG and FFA contents, and the fatty deposition in hepatocytes were significantly reduced in the rats of the treatment group.Yinchenhao Decoction has good therapeutic effects for NASH, protecting the liver function and reducing the fatty deposition in liver, which are possibly related with reduction of FFA content and inhibition of TNF-alpha expression.