Page 119 - GPD-3-3

Gene & Protein in Disease

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Hydrogen sulfide ameliorates non-alcoholic fatty

liver disease in mice

Hanyue Zhuang , Jiangzhe Si 1† , Zewei Yang 2 , Waner Wang 2 , Zimo Ge 2 ,
1†
Yuhan Wang 2 , Jingjing Li 2 , Na Chen * , and Tieshan Teng *
1
1
1 Department of General Surgery, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University and School of Basic Medical
Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China
2 Faculty of Basic Medical Subjects, Zhengzhou Shuqing Medical College, Zhengzhou, Henan, China

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a clinicopathological syndrome
characterized by excessive accumulation of intrahepatic fat and elevated hepatic
metabolic enzyme levels, leading to hepatocellular vesicular steatosis. The global
prevalence of this liver disease has been steadily increasing, closely associated with
lifestyle factors such as obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. Notably, there is
currently no approved pharmaceutical treatment for NAFLD. Hydrogen sulfide (H S)
2
is considered a vital gaseous signaling molecule in mammalian cells, playing a crucial
role in various physiological and pathological processes. Numerous recent studies
have demonstrated that H S is involved in modulating a diverse array of biological
2
† These authors contributed equally functions. In vitro and in vivo research often utilizes various readily soluble organic
to this work. or inorganic compounds H S donors, such as sodium hydrosulfide, sodium sulfide,
2
*Corresponding authors: and GYY4137, which allow for controlled release and concentration adjustment
Na Chen of H S, thereby facilitating the exploration of its biological effects and underlying
2
(48710532@qq.com) mechanisms. Our findings indicate that H S holds significant potential in reducing
Tieshan Teng 2
(10190136@vip.henu.edu.cn) the accumulation of cellular lipid droplets and multiple lipid deposits, as evidenced
by cellular and tissue staining, as well as triglyceride and total cholesterol assays.
Citation: Zhuang H, Si J, Yang Z,
et al. Hydrogen sulfide ameliorates Subsequent transcriptomic analysis revealed a potential association between
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease the degradation of lipid droplets by H S and the activation of cellular autophagy.
2
in mice. Gene Protein Dis. Validation through Western blotting in both cellular and animal models demonstrated
2024;3(3):3409.
doi: 10.36922/gpd.3409 that H S effectively triggers autophagy through the AMP-activated protein kinase
2
and mechanistic target of rapamycin pathway. This activation results in enhanced
Received: April 11, 2024 degradation of intracellular lipid content and decreased lipid accumulation in
Accepted: May 30, 2024
Published Online: September 11, hepatocytes, ultimately ameliorating NAFLD in mice.
2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). Keywords: Hydrogen sulfide; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Autophagy;
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the AMP-activated protein kinase and mechanistic target of rapamycin pathway
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited. 1. Introduction
Publisher’s Note: AccScience Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is widely recognized as a prevalent chronic
Publishing remains neutral with liver disease, particularly in developed countries and in regions undergoing economic
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional transition from poverty. The combined prevalence of NAFLD stands at approximately
1
affiliations. 25%. The pathological progression of NAFLD can be classified into four distinct stages,

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2024) 1 doi: 10.36922/gpd.3409