Deenin W, Malakul W, Boonsong T, Phoungpetchara I, Tunsophon S. Papaya improves non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese rats by attenuating oxidative stress, inflammation and lipogenic gene expression. World J Hepatol 2021; 13(3): 315-327 [PMID: 33815675 DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i3.315]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Sakara Tunsophon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, 99 Moo 9 TahPoh, Muang 65000, Phitsanulok, Thailand. sakarat@nu.ac.th
Research Domain of This Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Article-Type of This Article
Basic Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Wanwisa Deenin, Wachirawadee Malakul, Sakara Tunsophon, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Muang 65000, Phitsanulok, Thailand
Tantip Boonsong, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Muang 65000, Phitsanulok, Thailand
Ittipon Phoungpetchara, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Muang 65000, Phitsanulok, Thailand
Sakara Tunsophon, Centre of Excellence for Innovation in Chemistry, Naresuan University, Muang 65000, Phitsanulok, Thailand
Author contributions: Deenin W performed the experiments, analysed and interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript; Malakul W, Boonsong T and Phoungpetchara I conceptually designed the study, interpreted the data and proofed the manuscript; Tunsophon S designed and supervised the study, interpreted the data, discussed the results and wrote and revised the manuscript; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported byNational Research Council of Thailand, No. R2560B137 (to Tunsophon S) and No. 2562/20 (to Deenin W); and Thailand Research Fund, No. RDG5820017 (to Tunsophon S).
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The experimental protocol was approved by the institutional animal care and committee of Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand. No. NU-AE 580714.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All other authors have nothing to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
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: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Sakara Tunsophon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, 99 Moo 9 TahPoh, Muang 65000, Phitsanulok, Thailand. sakarat@nu.ac.th
Received: October 23, 2020 Peer-review started: October 23, 2020 First decision: November 25, 2020 Revised: December 30, 2020 Accepted: February 11, 2021 Article in press: February 11, 2021 Published online: March 27, 2021 Processing time: 147 Days and 11.3 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
High fat diet consumption causes fat accumulation in liver [nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)], which leads to liver dysfunction due to oxidative stress and inflammation
Research motivation
Papaya is a nutritional, healthy and affordable fruit. It is available in all regions of the world and can be found year-round. Additional scientific evidence on the health and nutritional benefits of papaya are needed to promote health and papaya consumption.
Research objectives
To evaluate papaya’s health benefit against NAFLD in obese rats.
Research methods
Rats were fed with a high fat diet for 12 wk to induce obesity. Papaya juice at the implement doses were administered to the rats. Hepatic lipid contents, oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokines, lipogenic genes and liver pathology were assessed.
Research results
The hepatoprotective action of papaya against the accumulation of hepatic fat was a result of the association of the hypolipidemic effect partially through a suppression of SREBP-1c and FAS, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities.
Research conclusions
The results of this study provide experimental-based evidence that can contribute to the implement of papaya in the prevention and treatment of obesity and associated metabolic disorders.
Research perspectives
Our study offers an optimistic view of an anti-NAFLD effect of papaya; however, further evidence from human clinical studies is necessary.
