Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Jul 25:16:1595508.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1595508. eCollection 2025.

The role of gallic acid in liver disease: a review of its phytochemistry, pharmacology, and safety

Peiyu Li  1 , Yifan Song  1 , Linlin Lv  1 , Wenshuo Zhang  1 , Aixi Jia  1 , Deshi Dong  1 , Xiaohan Zhai  1
Affiliations
Review

The role of gallic acid in liver disease: a review of its phytochemistry, pharmacology, and safety

Peiyu Li et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Background: The development of liver diseases adversely affects global health, emerging as a prominent cause of mortality globally and imposing a significant economic strain on society. Gallic acid (GA) is the natural polyphenol that is present in a variety of plants, fruits, tea, traditional Chinese medicine and so on.

Purpose: This review was aimed to analyze the available literature on GA with a focus on its mechanism of action.

Methods: Several literature databases were searched, including PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus to find relevant research on GA and liver disease over the last decade.

Results: Our finding indicate that GA can effectively reduce non-alcoholic liver injury, alcoholic liver disease, hepatic fibrosis, drug-induced liver injury, and liver cancer. GA displays remarkable antioxidant effects by activating nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) and the expression of antioxidant genes. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory mechanism is mainly related to the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway and down-regulating some inflammation-related factors such as interleukin 1 (IL-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). GA mitigates non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcoholic liver disease (ALD) through the reduction of lipid accumulation, achieved by modulating the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway. In the context of liver cancer, GA additionally modulates the wnt/β-catenin and JAK/STAT3 signaling pathways, as well as their downstream molecular components.

Conclusion: In this review, different studies indicate that GA have an excellent protective effect against various liver diseases associated with various signaling pathways.

Keywords: gallic acid (GA); hepatoprotective effects; liver diseases; mechanism; signaling pathways.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow chart depicting the search process, along with the criteria used for inclusion and exclusion.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Diagram of anti-fatty liver (including NAFLA and ALD) mechanism of GA.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Diagram of anti-liver fibrosis mechanism of GA.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Diagram of anti- DILI mechanism of GA.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Diagram of anti- HCC mechanism of GA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Abenavoli L., Larussa T., Corea A., Procopio A. C., Boccuto L., Dallio M., et al. (2021). Dietary polyphenols and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Nutrients 13, 494. 10.3390/nu13020494 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. AboZaid O. A. R., Abdel-Maksoud M. A., Saleh I. A., El-Tayeb M. A., El-Sonbaty S. M., Shoker F. E., et al. (2024). Targeting the NF-κB p65/Bcl-2 signaling pathway in hepatic cellular carcinoma using radiation assisted synthesis of zinc nanoparticles coated with naturally isolated gallic acid. Biomed. Pharmacother. 172, 116274. 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.116274 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aglan H. A., Ahmed H. H., El-Toumy S. A., Mahmoud N. S. (2017). Gallic acid against hepatocellular carcinoma: an integrated scheme of the potential mechanisms of action from in vivo study. Tumour Biol. 39, 1010428317699127. 10.1177/1010428317699127 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Al-Dashti Y. A., Holt R. R., Stebbins C. L., Keen C. L., Hackman R. M. (2018). Dietary flavanols: a review of select effects on vascular function, blood pressure, and exercise performance. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 37, 553–567. 10.1080/07315724.2018.1451788 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anwanwan D., Singh S. K., Singh S., Saikam V., Singh R. (2020). Challenges in liver cancer and possible treatment approaches. Biochim. Biophys. Acta Rev. Cancer 1873, 188314. 10.1016/j.bbcan.2019.188314 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources