AI Article Synopsis

  • Benth. (OSB), known for making "Shen tea," has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and liver-protective properties, but its effects on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) hadn't been thoroughly explored.
  • The study focused on optimizing the extraction of its key phytochemicals, especially flavonoids and polyphenols, finding flavonoids to be more closely linked to antioxidant activity.
  • The flavonoid-rich fraction was shown to improve weight, lipid metabolism, and liver health, acting as a powerful antioxidant that could lead to new applications for OSB in treating liver conditions.

Article Abstract

Benth. (OSB) is a popular plant used for making "Shen tea" or "Java tea". It has been demonstrated with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective activities. However, its potential beneficial effects and bioactive material basis for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has not been convincingly studied. In the present work, we conducted dual phytochemical/activity-guided extraction optimization and component fractionation of OSB, and evaluated its beneficial effects on NAFLD. Flavonoids and polyphenols (caffeic acid/protocatechuic acid derivatives) were determined as the dominant phytochemicals in OSB. The extraction process for these phytochemicals was optimized by using response surface methodology. Noticeably, flavonoids showed a stronger correlation with the antioxidant activities of OSB than polyphenols. Likewise, the flavonoid-rich fraction of OSB exerted antioxidant activities stronger than those of other fractions. As expected, and studies demonstrated that the flavonoid-rich fraction effectively attenuated weight increase, improved lipid metabolism, alleviated hepatic steatosis, and reversed hepatic inflammation. Importantly, this fraction showed equivalent beneficial effects to the total extract of OSB, suggesting that flavonoids were the main bioactive constituents of OSB. The action mechanism was indicated as direct antioxidant effect through chemical interaction with free radicals and indirect mitochondria-mediated antioxidant defense. Our research offers bioactive substances for further exploitation and expands the potential application of OSB.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.4c05125DOI Listing

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