Selenium and vitamin B2 cosupplementation alleviates high‐fat‐diet‐induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in rats by regulating hepatic lipid metabolism

Abstract Selenium (Se) and vitamin B 2 (VitB 2 ) all play essential roles in participating in hepatic lipid metabolism regulation. In this study, we aimed to identify whether Se combined with VitB 2 could meliorate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) caused by high‐fat (HF) diet in rats. To this end, 50 SD male rats were randomly allotted into five groups equally after receiving a HF diet for 2 weeks. Rats were fed high‐fat diets and gavaged daily with 0.83 or 8.33 µg kg –1 Se combined with 0.70 or 3.50 mg kg –1 VitB 2 for 8 weeks. Another 10 rats were given a conventional diet as a control group. The result showed that Se combined with VitB 2 decreased NAFLD activity score and liver lipid's levels, relieved hepatic steatosis and lipid deposition and promoted the balance of ApoA1/ApoB ratio. The hepatic 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) level was declined, and the serum HL level was increased in NAFLD rats through the combined intervention. In addition, Se and VitB 2 regulated hepatic metabolism factor's (FAS, ACC, ACAT1, PPARγ, and SREBP‐1c) expression level. Taken together, the combined intervention of Se and VitB 2 can alleviate HF‐diet‐induced NAFLD in rats. The molecular mechanism may be related to affecting the activities of lipid metabolic enzymes such as FAS, ACC, HMGR, ACAT1, and HL by inhibiting the expression of PPARγ and SREBP‐1c. Practical Applications : The present study showed that a combination of Se and VitB2 can effectively reduce hepatic lipid accumulations, exert hepatoprotective effects and regulate hepatic lipid metabolism in NAFLD rats caused by a high‐fat diet. The possible molecular mechanism may be related to affecting the activities of lipid metabolic enzymes such as FAS, ACC, HMGR, ACAT1, and HL, and inhibiting the expression of PPARγ and SREBP‐1c. Se and VitB2 cosupplementation may be a potential therapeutic strategy in overcoming hepatic lipid disorders' adverse effects beyond pharmacological interventions to ameliorate NAFLD.