Dark Tea Wine Protects Against Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease In Vivo Through Activating the Nrf2/HO-1 Antioxidant Signaling Pathway

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a complex and multifactorial disease. Dark tea exhibits great potential for various bioactivities for metabolic health. In this study, we aimed to evaluate therapeutic effects and the underlying mechanisms of dark tea wine (DTW) on MASLD with obesity. A rat model of MASLD was established by high-fat diet and administered with different doses of DTW as an intervention. The biomarkers of lipid metabolism and oxidative stress in rats were tested. The weight of organs and adipose tissues and the expressions of nuclear factor erythroid 2-like 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) were investigated based on the pathology and western blot analysis. We found that DTW enhanced antioxidant capacity via activating the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, further markedly triggering inhibition of weight gain, reduction of lipid dysfunction, and improvement of pathological characteristics to ameliorate MASLD induced by high-fat diet. These results suggest that DTW is a promising functional supplement for prevention and treatment of MASLD and obesity.