Abstract: Objective: To investigate the protective effect of garlic polysaccharides against metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in mice. Methods: Totally 50 male C57BL/6 mice were randomly equally divided into five groups, namely, normal, model, low-, medium-, and high-dose garlic polysaccharides (250, 1 000, and 3 000 mg/kg mb, respectively). After 28 days of feeding, serum and liver samples were taken for pathomorphological examination, biochemical assays, and quantitative analysis of the expression of the genes Hmox1, Cat, Gpx1, Tnf, Ccl2, Cxcl2, Cxcl10, IL-1a, IL-1b, Fasn, Acaca, Cpt1a, Acox, Cd36, Fabp1, Apob and Mttp. Results: Compared with the model group, garlic polysaccharides at the medium and high doses significantly alleviated MAFLD, restoring the pathological morphology to normal, bringing the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in liver tissue back to near-normal levels, and obviously restoring the expression of Hmox1, Tnf, Ccl2, Cxcl2, Cxcl10, Cpt1a, and Acox to normal levels. Conclusion: Intervention of garlic polysaccharides, especially at the medium dose, can basically eliminate liver damage caused by MAFLD. The underlying mechanism may be related to the regulation of lipid metabolism and inflammatory gene expression through suppressing the nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway, thereby reducing lipid deposition and lipid peroxidation.

Key words: garlic polysaccharides; metabolic associated fatty liver disease; inflammatory reaction; lipidosis