Study on the mechanism of vitamin E alleviating non-alcoholic fatty liver function based on non-targeted metabolomics analysis in rats

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome. Vitamin E (VE) has antioxidant properties and can mediate lipid metabolism. Non-targeted metabolomics technology was employed to uncover comprehensively the metabolome of VE in NAFLD rats. NAFLD model was created with a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet (HFD) in rats. NAFLD rats in the VE group were given 75 mg/(kg day) VE. The metabolites in the serum of rats were identified via UPLC and Q-TOF/MS analysis. KEGG was applied for the pathway enrichment. VE improved the liver function, lipid metabolism, and oxidative stress in NAFLD rats induced by HFD. Based on the metabolite profile data, 132 differential metabolites were identified between VE group and the HFD group, mainly including pyridoxamine, betaine, and bretylium. According to the KEGG results, biosynthesis of cofactors was a key metabolic pathway of VE in NAFLD rats. VE can alleviate NAFLD induced by HFD, and the underlying mechanism is associated with the biosynthesis of cofactors, mainly including pyridoxine and betaine.