Clinical efficacy and bacterial flora characteristics of Huazhi Rougan granules in the intervention of moderately resistant to damp-heat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Background:To explore the clinical efficacy of Huazhi Rougan granules in treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)and its effect on the oral and intestinal flora.Methods:48 patients who met the inclusion criteria were intervened with Huazhi Rougan granules,the liver and spleen CT ratio,Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome,body mass index(BMI,WC,SMM,body fat percentage,visceral fat area),liver function,and blood lipid levels were compared before and after treatment,and the curative effect was evaluated;6 cases of NAFLD patients whose clinical efficacy after Huazhi Rougan granule intervention was effective were randomly selected,and the patient’s oral and intestinal samples were taken for further analysis.Results:After treatment,the total effective rate of clinical efficacy was 85.14%.The TCM symptoms of NAFLD patients were significantly alleviated compared with before treatment(P<0.05).There were statistically significant differences in ALT,AST,GGT,TC,and TG before and after treatment(P<0.01).After treatment,BW,BMI,WC,body fat percentage,visceral fat area,liver hardness,and fat attenuation index were significantly decreased(P<0.01).Oral-gut flora analysis showed:After treatment,the Shannon index of the gut microbial community increased(P<0.01).Compared with before treatment,the abundance of Firmicutes decreased,while the abundance of Bacteroidetes,Candidatus-Sa,and Tenericutes increased(P<0.05).At the genus level,the abundance of Bacteroides,Lactobacillus,and Bifidobacterium increased,and Streptococcus,Oribacterium,and Peptoanaerobacter decreased(P<0.05).Before and after treatment,the dominant bacterial phyla in the intestine were the same,including Bacteroidetes,Firmicutes,and Proteobacteria.The abundance of Firmicutes and Roseburia decreased after treatment(P<0.05).Conclusions:Huazhi Rougan granules have a significant effect on the treatment of NAFLD,can improve liver function,reduce blood lipids,can effectively reduce body morphological indicators such as body mass,WC,body fat percentage,visceral fat area,liver stiffness measurement(LSM),and fat content,and has the function of protecting the liver and reducing blood pressure,promoting the role of intrahepatic fat metabolism;and significantly relieve the clinical symptoms.NAFLD patients have the gut and oral flora disturbances.Huazhi Rougan granules can restore the diversity of intestinal microbial communities in NAFLD patients and play a therapeutic role by regulating the abundance and composition of oral and Gut flora.

Investigating the Potential Mechanism of Huazhi Rougan Granules Against Alcoholic Liver Disease by Network Pharmacology and Experiment

Objective: Huazhi Rougan granules(HRGs) are a promising drug to improve alcoholic liver disease(ALD), but its mechanism remains unclear. Materials and Methods: Network pharmacology, molecular docking, and animal experiments were used to reveal the potential mechanism of HRG against ALD. Results: A total of 245 potential targets of HRG against ALD were obtained. Functional enrichment analysis suggests that HRG could synergistically regulate various biological pathways to exert therapeutic effects on ALD. Molecular docking showed that the key targets exhibited the good binding ability with the key compounds. The in vivo experiments showed that HRG can effectively alleviate pathological changes in liver tissue, improve blood lipid levels, antioxidant stress ability, and liver function, and reduce the release of inflammatory cytokines in the liver. Conclusions: This study reflects that HRG is an effective strategy for treating ALD, providing a basis for revealing the prevention and treatment mechanisms of ALD.