Korean Red Ginseng attenuates ethanol-induced steatosis and oxidative stress via AMPK/Sirt1 activation

BACKGROUND: Alcoholic steatosis is the earliest and most common liver disease, and may precede the onset of more severe forms of liver injury. METHODS: The effect of Korean Red Ginseng extract (RGE) was tested in two murine models of ethanol (EtOH)-feeding and EtOH-treated hepatocytes. RESULTS: Blood biochemistry analysis demonstrated that RGE treatment improved liver function. Histopathology and measurement of hepatic triglyceride content verified the ability of RGE to inhibit fat accumulation. Consistent with this, RGE administration downregulated hepatic lipogenic gene induction and restored hepatic lipolytic gene repression by EtOH. The role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver diseases is well established. Treatment with RGE attenuated EtOH-induced cytochrome P450 2E1, 4-hydroxynonenal, and nitrotyrosine levels. Alcohol consumption also decreased phosphorylation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, which was restored by RGE. Moreover, RGE markedly inhibited fat accumulation in EtOH-treated hepatocytes, which correlated with a decrease in sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 and a commensurate increase in sirtuin 1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α expression. Interestingly, the ginsenosides Rb2 and Rd, but not Rb1, significantly inhibited fat accumulation in hepatocytes. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that RGE and its ginsenoside components inhibit alcoholic steatosis and liver injury by adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase/sirtuin 1 activation both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that RGE may have a potential to treat alcoholic liver disease.