Protective effect of silybin meglumine on rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Objective To investigate the protective effect of silybin meglumine(SM) on rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.Methods Fifty male SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: normal group,model group,low-dose SM(100 mg/kg) group,high-dose SM(300 mg/kg) group and positive group(60 mg/kg ursodeoxycholic acid),with 10 rats in each group.Drugs were administered after high-fat diet for four weeks,glutamic-pyruvic transaminase(GPT),glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase(GOT),triacylglycerol(TG) and total cholesterol(TC) in serum and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-8(IL-8) in hepatic tissue were measured in 6 weeks.Results The levels of GPT,GOT,TG,TC and TNF-α were lower in low-and high-dose SM groups and positive group than those in model group(P0.05).IL-8 level was lower in high-dose SM group and positive group than that in model group(P0.05).There was no significant difference in IL-8 level between low-dose SM group and model group(P0.05).Conclusion SM has protective effect on rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,which is correlated with decreasing the TNF-α and IL-8 levels and reducing inflammatory cell infiltration.