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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Feb 27, 2026; 18(2): 115763
Published online Feb 27, 2026. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v18.i2.115763
Published online Feb 27, 2026. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v18.i2.115763
Qushi Huoxue ointment ameliorates metabolic associated steatotic liver disease through autophagy activation and ferroptosis inhibition
Yi-Yang Liu, Hong Qin, Hong-Xi Wu, Ru-Ting Wang, Qiu-Yan Yang, Graduate School, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530011, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Feng Jiang, Medical Translation Center, Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530011, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Xu-Dong Liu, Department of Hepatology, Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530011, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
De-Kun Wu, Teaching Experiment and Training Center, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530011, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
You-Ming Tang, Department of Digestive Disease, Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530011, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Co-corresponding authors: De-Kun Wu and You-Ming Tang.
Author contributions: Liu YY designed the experimental protocol, conducted the majority of the animal and molecular biology experiments, analyzed the corresponding data, and drafted the paper; Qin H was responsible for data processing, statistical analysis and chart creation, and assisted in revising the paper; Wu HX, Wang RT, and Yang QY assisted in conducting western blot and qPCR experiments and participated in the preliminary data analysis; Jiang F and Liu XD provided key experimental reagents and technical guidance, supervised the research progress, and critically reviewed and revised the paper; Wu DK and Tang YM secured research funding, established the overall research framework, finalized the manuscript, and they contributed to the work equally to this article and are co-corresponding authors. All authors contributed to the study conception and design, have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82160837; Huatong Guokang Medical Research Special Project Grant, No. 2023HT026; and Innovation Project of Guangxi Graduate Education, No. YCSW2024405.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine (Approval No. DW20240919-186).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
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 additional data are available.
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: De-Kun Wu, Teaching Experiment and Training Center, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, No. 179 Mingxiu East Road, Xixiangtang District, Nanning 530011, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. 1278323777@qq.com
Received: November 3, 2025
Revised: November 23, 2025
Accepted: December 25, 2025
Published online: February 27, 2026
Processing time: 104 Days and 4.8 Hours
Revised: November 23, 2025
Accepted: December 25, 2025
Published online: February 27, 2026
Processing time: 104 Days and 4.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Qushi Huoxue ointment can alleviate hepatic lipid accumulation, inflammation, and cell injury in metabolic associated steatotic liver disease mice. Our experimental evidence suggests that these therapeutic effects may be attributed to the concurrent activation of autophagy and inhibition of ferroptosis. The improvement in mitochondrial morphology and the presence of autophagosomes observed under the microscope provide morphological corroboration for this coordinated mechanism.