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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 14, 2020; 26(18): 2155-2165
Published online May 14, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i18.2155
Natural products that target macrophages in treating non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
Chun-Lin Li, Wen-Jun Zhou, Guang Ji, Li Zhang
Chun-Lin Li, Wen-Jun Zhou, Guang Ji, Li Zhang, Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China
Author contributions: Zhang L and Ji G contributed to the conceptualization of this paper; Li CL and Zhou WJ contributed to original draft preparation; Zhang L reviewed and edited the manuscript; Li CL and Zhou WJ contribute equally to this work.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81774084 and No. 81803897.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Li Zhang, MD, PhD, Senior Scientist, Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 725 South Wanping Road, Shanghai 200032, China. zhangli.hl@163.com
Received: January 10, 2020
Peer-review started: January 10, 2020
First decision: February 28, 2020
Revised: March 26, 2020
Accepted: April 24, 2020
Article in press: April 24, 2020
Published online: May 14, 2020
Processing time: 125 Days and 2.9 Hours
Abstract

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the progressive subtype of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and potentiates risks for both hepatic and metabolic diseases. Although the pathophysiology of NASH is not completely understood, recent studies have revealed that macrophage activation is a major contributing factor for the disease progression. Macrophages integrate the immune response and metabolic process and have become promising targets for NASH therapy. Natural products are potential candidates for NASH treatment and have multifactorial underlying mechanisms. Macrophage involvement in the development of steatosis and inflammation in NASH has been widely investigated. In this review, we assess the evidence for natural products or their active ingredients in the modulation of macrophage activation, recruitment, and polarization, as well as the metabolic status of macrophages. Our work may highlight the possible natural products that target macrophages as potential treatment options for NASH.

Keywords: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; Macrophages; Natural products; Inflammation; Metabolism

Core tip: Macrophages play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Here we discuss the evidence for natural products or their active ingredients in the modulation of macrophage activation, recruitment, and polarization, as well as the metabolic status of macrophages. Our work may highlight the possible natural products that target macrophages as potential treatment options for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.