A celery and chamomile compound fixed fatty liver via gut bacteria
Xiong F, Xu Y, Wang X, Peng Y, Tang T
Medicinal Plants
The chamomile in your tea cabinet and the parsley in your garden bed contain apigenin, a compound this study shows can shift gut bacteria in ways that protect the liver from fat buildup.
Apigenin is a natural compound found in plants like parsley, celery, and chamomile, and it's known for calming inflammation and helping the body handle fat. In mice with diet-induced fatty liver disease, apigenin changed the mix of gut bacteria, boosting helpful Lactobacillus while lowering another microbe, and this shift lowered a harmful blood compound called homocysteine. That drop in homocysteine seemed to be the key step that let the liver clear out excess fat and calm down inflammation.
Key Findings
Apigenin reduced hepatic triglyceride accumulation, improved liver function markers, and eased inflammation and oxidative stress in MCD diet-fed mice.
Lipidomic profiling showed apigenin decreased saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids while increasing monounsaturated fatty acids in liver tissue.
Apigenin remodeled gut microbiota by increasing Lactobacillus and decreasing Akkermansia, and identified homocysteine as a key mediator linking gut bacteria changes to liver lipid dysregulation.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A plant compound called apigenin, found in celery, parsley, and chamomile, reduced fatty liver disease in mice by reshaping their gut bacteria and lowering a harmful metabolite called homocysteine. The study suggests this common plant flavone could become a natural therapy for metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, a condition with few effective drug treatments.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Apigenin ameliorates methionine-choline deficient diet-induced metabolic-associated fatty liver disease through modulation of gut microbiota-liver axis.
Apigenin, a naturally occurring flavone widely present in the plant kingdom, possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic regulatory activities. Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease ...
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Celery is a cultivated plant belonging to the species Apium graveolens in the family Apiaceae that has been used as a vegetable since ancient times.