Low-molecular weight oligosaccharides from gum tragacanth (Astragalus gossypinus) ameliorate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Wistar male rats

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease affecting 25% of the world's population. The effects of oligosaccharides from Gum tragacanth (Astragalus gossypinus) (GT) on oxidative stress, glucose metabolism, and expression of autophagy genes were investigated in induced non-alcoholic fatty liver. Twenty-four male healthy rats were divided into four groups, Control; high-fat diet, high-fat diet+ 100mg GT oligosaccharides/kg body weight, high-fat diet + 200 mg GT oligosaccharides/kg body weight and fed with the trial diets for 70days. At the end of the experiment, the results indicated that GT oligosaccharides affected the weight gain and liver weight in NAFLD-induced rats. In addition, the results showed that the use of GT oligosaccharides significantly decreased oxidative stress, liver injury, and hyperglycemia (p<.05) and upregulated the expression of autophagy genes in NAFLD-induced rats.

Automated summary

This study found that GT oligosaccharides have an impact on the weight and liver weight of NAFLD-induced rats. In addition, the use of GT oligosaccharides significantly reduced oxidative stress, liver injury, and hyperglycemia in NAFLD-induced rats, and upregulated the expression of autophagy genes.