Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) polysaccharides attenuate high-fat diet induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease via AMPK activation.

Chicory polysaccharides (CP) from Cichorium intybus L. roots were extracted and fractionated to isolate two novel polysaccharide fractions, CP-1 and CP-2. CP-1 is a heteropolysaccharide that is mainly composed of sorbin, glucose, fructose, and glucitol at a molar ratio of 1.00:5.58:13.97:10.32. The molecular weight of CP-1 was 8511.4 Da. The hepatoprotective effect of CP-1 was investigated in a rat model of high-fat diet induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rats. Results indicated that the oral administration of CP-1 significantly decreased body weight and liver index in NAFLD rats. CP-1 also significantly increased serum levels of SOD and HDLC, and decreased the levels of ALT, AST, TG, TC, LDL-C, GLU, ALP, LDH, and MDA in NAFLD rats. Meanwhile, CP-1 effectively decreased MDA, TC, and TG, and increased SOD and T-AOC in the livers of NAFLD rats. Furthermore, CP-1 also increased the hepatic expression of p-AMPKα, ATGL, CPT-1, and p-ACC, and reduced the hepatic expression of ACC, FAS, and SCD-1. Moreover, histopathological examination of the livers showed that CP-1 significantly ameliorated the symptoms of NAFLD rats. Therefore, CP-1 significantly attenuated the high-fat diet-induced NAFLD in rats via AMPK activation.