Sophora moorcroftiana seeds ethanol extract alleviates non-alcoholic fatty liver disease through adjusting lipid metabolism via LKB1/AMPK signalling pathway

Sophora moorcroftiana (Benth.) Baker seeds (SMS) have shown potential hepatoprotective effects. This study investigated the effects of ethanol extract of S. moorcroftiana seeds (SMSE) on NAFLD and its possible mechanisms. SMSE treatment effectively alleviated liver dysfunction and lipid droplet accumulation in hepatic tissue, mitigated oxidative stress and inflammation in the liver tissues of NAFLD mice, and exerted consistent regulatory effects in FFA-induced HepG2. Further network pharmacology analysis revealed that the therapeutic potential of SMSE against NAFLD is closely associated with the regulation of the PPAR and AMPK signalling pathways. Meanwhile, SMSE promoted LKB1 phosphorylation, leading to the upregulation of proteins associated with fatty acid β-oxidation (PPARα and CPT1A) and the downregulation of proteins involved in lipid synthesis (SREBP-1, FAS, and ACC). These findings demonstrated that SMSE suppresses lipid synthesis and promotes fatty acid β-oxidation. Therefore, SMSE could be a potential therapeutic strategy for NAFLD.