Protective Mechanism of Edible Food Plants against Alcoholic Liver Disease with Special Mention to Polyphenolic Compounds

Abstract

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is one type of liver disease, causing a global healthcare problem and mortality. The liver undergoes tissue damage by chronic alcohol consumption because it is the main site for metabolism of ethanol. Chronic alcohol exposure progresses from alcoholic fatty liver (AFL) to alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH), which further lead to fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular cancer. Therapeutic interventions to combat ALD are very limited such as use of corticosteroids. However, these therapeutic drugs are not effective for long-term usage. Therefore, additional effective and safe therapies to cope with ALD are urgently needed. Previous studies confirmed that edible food plants and their bioactive compounds exert a protective effect against ALD. In this review article, we summarized the hepatoprotective potential of edible food plants and their bioactive compounds. The underlying mechanism for the prevention of ALD by edible food plants was as follows: anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, lipid regulation, inhibition of apoptosis, gut microbiota composition modulation, and anti-fibrosis.

Keywords: alcoholic liver disease; antioxidants; bioactive compounds; gut microbiota; polyphenols.

Figure 1

Schematic representation of metabolic pathway of ethanol. Adapted from ref. [18].

Figure 2

The spectrum and pathogenesis of ALD.

Figure 3

Schematic illustration of effect of edible food plants and bioactive compounds on gut microbiota composition [110,148,158,179,181,190,202,203,204].

Figure 4

Protective effect of bioactive compounds and edible plant extract from ALD.