Pu'er raw tea extract alleviates lipid deposition in both LO2 cells and Caenorhabditis elegans

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a clinical syndrome associated with steatosis and excessive deposition in the liver, while safe, green and efficient curative therapy is still lacking. Current researches have shown that plant polyphenols possess superior lipid-lowering and liver protective activities. Pu'er raw tea, a widely consumed tea with increasing fans, has been reported with various healthcare functions, such as blood lipids-lowering, weight loss, anti-microbes and anti-cancer. Therefore, in this study, polyphenols were extracted, purified and identified from Pu'er raw tea. The beneficial effects of Pu'er raw tea extract (PTE) on lipidoses in both LO2 cells and Caenorhabditis elegans were investigated. In vitro , PTE manifested beneficial effects in protecting cells from oxidative stress, alleviating lipid accumulation and expression of metabolic transcription factors such as Pparα, CD36, Plin2, Scd1, and activating the SIRT1-FOXO pathway to inhibit the expression of SREBP-1c and FAS. In vivo , PTE regulated the abnormal athletic ability of C. elegans and inhibited lipidosis in the whole body induced by oleic acid (OA). Therefore, PTE has exhibited superior bioactivity in alleviating lipid deposition both in vivo and in vitro , and could be regarded as a potential therapeutic strategy for NAFLD in the future.