Scientific Reports (Jul 2023)

Coral calcium carried hydrogen ameliorates the severity of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis induced by a choline deficient high carbohydrate fat-free diet in elderly rats

  • Kuai Ma,
  • Xin Hu,
  • Keiki Nambu,
  • Daisuke Ueda,
  • Naotsugu Ichimaru,
  • Masayuki Fujino,
  • Xiao-Kang Li

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38856-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Abstract Hydrogen has been reported to act as an antioxidant, anti-apoptosis and anti-inflammatory agent. Coral calcium carried hydrogen (G2-SUISO) is a safer and more convenient form of hydrogen agent than others. The mechanism underlying the hepatoprotective effects of G2-SUISO using an elderly non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) rat model was investigated. Two days after fasting, six-month-old elderly male F344/NSlc rats were given a choline deficient high carbohydrate fat-free (CDHCFF) diet from day 0 to day 3 as CDHCFF control group, and then switched to a normal diet from days 4 to 7 with or without 300 mg/kg G2-SUISO. Rats in each group were finally being sacrificed on day 3 or day 7. In the CDHCFF diet group, G2-SUISO decreased the liver weight-to-body weight ratio, the serum AST, ALT, total cholesterol levels, inflammatory infiltration, pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and lipid droplets with inhibiting lipogenic pathways by reducing sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c, acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase gene expression compared with the CDHCFF diet alone. G2-SUISO had beneficial effects of anti-apoptosis as well the down-regulation of pro-apoptotic molecules including NF-κB, caspase-3, caspase-9 and Bax. These findings suggest that G2-SUISO treatment exerts a significant hepatoprotective effect against steatosis, inflammation and apoptosis in elderly NASH rats.