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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Dec 27, 2025; 17(12): 113660
Published online Dec 27, 2025. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i12.113660
Published online Dec 27, 2025. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i12.113660
Integrated serum metabolomics reveal molecular mechanism of Xietu Hemu prescription on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease-related obesity
Zhe Cheng, Yi-Fan Lu, Yi-Xian He, Wei Wei, Yi-Xuan Xie, Tian-Su Lv, Yi Wei, Yan Lou, Jiang-Yi Yu, Xi-Qiao Zhou, Department of Endocrinology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Zhe Cheng and Yi-Fan Lu.
Co-corresponding authors: Jiang-Yi Yu and Xi-Qiao Zhou.
Author contributions: Cheng Z and Lu YF contribute equally to this study as co-first authors; Yu JY and Zhou XQ contribute equally to this study as co-corresponding authors; Cheng Z conducted the experiments and wrote the manuscript; Lu YF, He YX and Wei W performed the Network analyses; Xie YX, Lv TS, and Wei Y reviewed and edited the manuscript; Lou Y provided the laboratory and technical materials; Yu JY and Zhou XQ designed the study.
Supported by Jiangsu Postgraduate Research and Practice Innovation Programme, No. KYCX24_2242; Science and Technology Project of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. Y22002; and Forth Batch of Construction Program for Inheritance Office of Jiangsu Province Famous Traditional Chinese Medicine Experts, No.[2021]7.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The animal research protocol for obtaining drug-containing serum was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (Approval No. 202406A101).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that would appear to influence their judgment.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xi-Qiao Zhou, PhD, Department of Endocrinology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 155 Hanzhong Road, Qinhuai District, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China.
Received: September 1, 2025
Revised: October 22, 2025
Accepted: November 21, 2025
Published online: December 27, 2025
Processing time: 117 Days and 5.3 Hours
Revised: October 22, 2025
Accepted: November 21, 2025
Published online: December 27, 2025
Processing time: 117 Days and 5.3 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Xietu Hemu prescription, a traditional Chinese medicine formula, ameliorates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease-related obesity by inhibiting adipogenesis. Integrating serum metabolomics, transcriptomics, and network analysis, this study identified the LEP/AMPK/PPARγ signaling axis as the central mechanism. The formula promotes leptin autocrine secretion, activates AMPK phosphorylation, and subsequently downregulates PPARγ and SREBPs, thereby reducing lipid accumulation and improving metabolic homeostasis, offering a novel multi-target therapeutic strategy.