Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a kind of liver inflammation caused by an accumulation of fat in the liver. Patients with NAFLD have an increased risk to develop liver fibrosis, which leads to cirrhosis. To investigate hepatoprotective effects of Agrimonia eupatoria L (A. eupatoria), oleic acid-induced NAFLD in HepG2 cells was used and A. eupatoria was fractionated with ethanol (EtOH), n-hexane, dichloromethane (CH2Cl2), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-butanol (BuOH), and H2O. Cells treated with the EtOAc fraction showed the highest lipid accumulation inhibiting effect. A. eupatoria also suppressed triglyceride accumulation and inhibited expression of lipid marker gene, such as a peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPAR-γ). Moreover, another marker, mRNA expression level of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α (PPAR-α) was significantly increased by in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that A. eupatoria is a potent agent for the treatment of NAFLD.

• 손은화(강원대학교 생약자원개발학과) | Eun-Hwa Sohn (Department of Herbal Medicine Resource, Kangwon National University)
• 김태성(강원대학교 생약자원개발학과) | Taeseong Kim (Department of Herbal Medicine Resource, Kangwon National University)
• 정용준(가천대학교 생명과학과) | Yong Joon Jeong (Department of Life Science, Gachon University)
• 한효상(중부대학교 보건행정학과) | Hyo-Sang Han (Department of Health Administration, Joongbu University)
• 이영성(바이오코리아(주)) | Youngsung Lea (BIOKOREA CO., LTD.)
• 조영미(가천대학교 생명과학과) | Young Mi Cho (Department of Life Science, Gachon University)
• 강세찬(가천대학교 생명과학과) | Se Chan Kang (Department of Life Science, Gachon University) Corresponding author