Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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THERAPEUTIC MECHANISM OF ACTION OF SEA BUCKTHORN EXTRACT IN MOUSE MODEL OF PSORIASIS COMORBID WITH NONALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE

WENHAO YIN, KANG GE, YIHUI XIE, MENGZHU JIN *

Department of Dermatology, The First Hospital of Jiaxing/Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, 314001, China

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This study investigated the therapeutic mechanism of sea buckthorn extract (SBE) in a mouse model of psoriasis (PSO) associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Seventy male C57BL/6 mice were assigned to PSO, NAFLD, and PSO+NAFLD groups. Following model establishment, mice received either normal saline (NS) or SBE, generating six experimental subgroups. Liver function, lipid metabolism parameters, histopathological changes, inflammatory mediators, and PI3K/AKT/FOXO1 signaling pathway proteins were evaluated. Compared with the PSO group, PSO+NAFLD mice exhibited increased skin fold thickness, higher Baker scores, elevated cutaneous TNF-α, IL-17, IL-6, and IL-23 expression, and enhanced phosphorylation of PI3K, AKT, and FOXO1 (p < 0.05). Relative to the NAFLD group, PSO+NAFLD mice showed aggravated liver injury, increased NAFLD activity scores, elevated AST, ALT, TC, TG, and LDL-C levels, reduced HDL-C, increased hepatic inflammatory cytokines, and activation of the PI3K/AKT/FOXO1 pathway (p < 0.05). SBE administration significantly ameliorated these alterations. These findings indicate that PSO and NAFLD mutually exacerbate inflammation and metabolic dysfunction, while SBE alleviates disease severity by suppressing inflammatory responses and modulating the PI3K/AKT/FOXO1 signaling pathway.