Exogenous hydrogen sulfide mitigates the fatty liver in obese mice through improving lipid metabolism and antioxidant potential

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease in the world. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) plays an important role in physiology and pathophysiology of liver. However, whether exogenous H2S could mitigate the hepatic steatosis in mice remains unclear. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of H2S on fatty liver.

Methods: C57BL/6 mice were fed with either a high-fat diet (HFD) or a normal fat diet (NFD) for 16 weeks. After 12 weeks of feeding, the HFD-fed mice were injected one time per day with NaHS or saline for the followed 4 weeks.

Results: Compared to NFD, HFD could induce an accumulation of lipids in liver and a damage of hepatic structure. Compared to saline treatment, in the liver of HFD fed mice H2S treatment could significantly (1) recover the structure; (2) decrease the accumulation of lipids including triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC); (3) decrease the expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and increase the expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT-1); (4) reduce malondialdehyde (MDA) levels; (5) increase the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx).

Conclusion: H2S could mitigate the fatty liver by improving lipid metabolism and antioxidant potential in HFD-induced obese mice.