Effects of Flavonoids on Alcoholic Liver Disease: A Review

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) encompasses a spectrum of manifestations from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis, progressive fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. Emerging research has spotlighted flavonoids as promising candidates for interfering the initiation, promotion and progression of ALD. Thus this paper provides a comprehensive exposition on the effects of flavonoids on ALD and elucidates the underlying mechanisms. The results show that luteolin, soyasaponin, and isoliquiritigenin have demonstrated the ability to reduce liver fat synthesis, regulate lipid metabolism, and mitigate the undesirable accumulation of fat in hepatocytes. Quercetin and genistein exhibit excellent antioxidant properties, inhibiting lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress, thereby alleviating cellular inflammation and reducing the damage caused by alcohol to hepatocytes. Naringin, cyanidin, and butein also show promise in resisting liver fibrosis. The therapeutic effects of flavonoids on ALD have been validated through cell and animal experiments. However, the application development of flavonoids in functional foods still faces challenges due to insufficient research and industrialization hurdles.