Journal of physiology and pharmacology : an official journal of the Polish Physiological SocietyMar 14, 2014

Comparing pioglitazone, quercetin, and hydroxy citric acid on fat damage and antioxidant levels in a model of fatty liver inflammation

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗

Updated Apr 6, 2026

Abstract

Levels of lipid peroxidation products, malondialdehyde (MDA), were significantly increased in experimentally induced NASH compared to the control group.

Experimental NASH rats treated with pioglitazone, quercetin, and hydroxy citric acid showed significant reduction in MDA levels.
Non-enzymatic antioxidant glutathione (GSH) and various antioxidant enzymes were significantly decreased in experimental NASH compared to the control group.
Treatment with pioglitazone resulted in marked increases in GSH, catalase, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels.
Hydroxy citric acid treatment led to marked increases in GSH and catalase levels but did not significantly affect SOD, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) levels.
Quercetin treatment significantly increased levels of GSH, catalase, SOD, GPx, GR, and GST compared to the NASH induced group.
The antioxidant properties of quercetin may be more beneficial in the treatment of NASH than those of pioglitazone and hydroxy citric acid.

Simplified

Oxidative stress is one of the key mechanisms responsible for liver damage and disease progression in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Antioxidants try to combat the oxidative stress and minimise the oxidative stress. In this study, the comparative effect of pioglitazone, quercetin and hydroxy citric acid on lipid peroxidation and antioxidants in experimentally induced NASH has been studied. The levels of lipid peroxidation products, malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) were estimated in experimental NASH. The levels of lipid peroxidation products (MDA) have been significantly increased in experimentally induced NASH group compared to the control group. The experimental NASH rats treated with pioglitazone, quercetin and with hydroxy citric acid showed significant reduction in MDA levels when compared with that of NASH induced group. Non enzymatic antioxidant such as GSH and antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, SOD, GPx, GR, and GST were decreased significantly in experimental NASH, compared to that of control group. The experimental NASH rats treated with pioglitazone showed marked increase in the levels of GSH, catalase and SOD but no significant effect on the levels of GPx, GR and GST levels when compared to the experimentally induced NASH group. Experimental NASH rats treated with hydroxy citric acid showed marked increase in the levels of GSH and catalase but no significant effect on the levels of SOD, GPx, GR and GST levels when compared to the experimentally induced NASH group. On contrary to these two drugs, the experimental NASH rats treated with quercetin showed significant increase in the levels of antioxidants as follows: GSH, catalase, SOD, GPx, GR and GST when compared with that of NASH induced group. We concluded that the levels of nonenzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants found to be decreased in experimentally induced NASH. The antioxidant property of quercetin could be more beneficial in treatment of NASH when compared to pioglitazone and hydroxy citric acid.

Comparing pioglitazone, quercetin, and hydroxy citric acid on fat damage and antioxidant levels in a model of fatty liver inflammation

Abstract

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief