Lianhe Xiaozhi ointment ameliorates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha pathway activation

Table 1 Constituent herbs in Lianhe Xiaozhi ointment

Chinese name	Latin name	Plant part	Usage (g/day)
Huanglian	Coptis chinensis Franch.	Rhizoma	3
Fabanxia	Pinellia ternata (Thunb) Breit.	Tuber	10
Zhuru	Bambusa tuldoides Munro	Culm shavings	10
Gualoupi	Trichosanthes kirilowii Maxim.	Pericarpium	15
Chenpi	Citrus reticulata Blanco	Pericarpium	10
Heye	Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.	Leaf	15
Fuling	Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf	Sclerotium	10
Zhishi	Citrus aurantium L.	Fructus immaturus	15
Gancao	Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.	Root and rhizome	6
Huzhang	Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb.et Zucc.	Root and rhizome	15

Table 2 Fasting blood glucose and serum biochemical results in mice, mean ± SEM

Variables	ND	HFD	L-LXO	H-LXO
ALT (U/L)	23.32 ± 2.34	44.98 ± 3.07c	32.10 ± 2.68c,e	28.10 ± 1.56a,f
AST (U/L)	11.60 ± 0.93	59.42 ± 4.31c	39.75 ± 5.60e	27.87 ± 2.86f
TG (mmol/L)	0.58 ± 0.07	0.84 ± 0.04a	0.61 ± 0.06d	0.66 ± 0.04d
TC (mmol/L)	2.57 ± 0.10	5.60 ± 0.25c	5.06 ± 0.42c	4.86 ± 0.54b
LDL-C (mmol/L)	0.41 ± 0.03	1.30 ± 0.09c	1.34 ± 0.19c	1.14 ± 0.18b
HDL-C (mmol/L)	2.34 ± 0.04	2.98 ± 0.16b	3.02 ± 0.14b	2.88 ± 0.14a
FBG (mmol/L)	8.70 ± 0.12	11.03 ± 0.28c	10.23 ± 0.36b	9.23 ± 0.21f

^aP < 0.05 vs normal diet group.

^bP < 0.01 vs normal diet group.

^cP < 0.001 vs normal diet group.

^dP < 0.05 vs high-fat diet group.

^eP < 0.01 vs high-fat diet group.

^fP < 0.001 vs high-fat diet group.

One-way analysis of variance was employed. Data are presented as means ± SEM (n = 8). ND: Normal diet; HFD: High-fat diet; L-LXO: Low-dose Lianhe Xiaozhi ointment; H-LXO: High-dose Lianhe Xiaozhi ointment; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; FBG: Fasting blood glucose; TC: Total cholesterol; TG: Triglyceride; LDL-C: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C: High-density lipoprotein cholesterol.