Fisetin Ameliorates Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury through Regulating SIRT1 and SphK1 Pathway

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) often leads to hepatitis, hepatic cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma. Fisetin has been shown to confer protection against liver injury. Herein, we investigated whether fisetin could prevent ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity. Mice were fed on 5% (v/v) Lieber-DeCarli ethanol diet. Human primary hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) co-cultured with ethanol were used to verify the therapeutic effect of fisetin. The results of alanine/aspartate aminotransferase (ALT/AST), Triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) in serum, Oil O Red and Masson staining revealed that fisetin (80 mg/kg) ameliorated ethanol-induced mice liver injury and fibrosis. Besides, immunofluorescence results of alpha-SMA revealed that fisetin suppressed HSCs activation. The suppression was dose-dependent. Furthermore, fisetin promoted SIRT1-mediated autophagy and inhibited Sphk1-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) both in vitro and in vivo. Molecular docking results indicated potential interaction of fisetin with SIRT1 and SphK1. The inhibitory effect of fisetin on HSCs activation was reversed on co-culturing with EX-527, a specific inhibitor against STIR1 overexpression. Thus, fisetin has the potential to ameliorate alcohol-induced liver injury through suppression of HSCs activation, SIRT1-mediated autophagy and Sphk1-mediated ER stress.

Automated summary

This study found that fisetin can prevent alcohol-induced liver toxicity by suppressing the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), promoting SIRT1-mediated autophagy, and inhibiting Sphk1-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress).