Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
Research Article
Manassantin A and B are Potential Therapeutic Agents for Treating
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Author(s): John Min, Sin-Hee Han, Ae-Jin Choi, Faridoddin Mirshahi, Shunlin Ren, Jason D. Kang, Phillip B. Hylemon, Hae-Ki Min* and Arun J. Sanyal*
Manassantin (MNS) has been reported to have various biological activities including repression of Hypoxia-Inducible
Factor 1 (HIF-1), anti-inflammatory, and anti-plasmodial properties. Here, we investigated whether MNS has the
potential to serve as a therapeutic agent for treating Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) via regulation of
hepatic AMPK and ERK1/2, gp130/Stat3, inflammation, and autophagy pathways. In NAFLD patients, AMPKα
(Thr172) phosphorylation levels were suppressed, whereas ERK1/2 phosphorylation levels were increased. In
addition, IL-6 levels were directly correlated with ERK1/2 activation and were inversely related to decreases in
AMPKα (Thr172) phosphorylation. MNS increased activation of AMPKα by increasing cellular AMP: ATP ratio,
decreased ERK1/2 and PKC-θ phosphorylation, and decreased p62 and LC3 protei.. View more»