Objective To investigate the effect of miRNA-384 (miR-384)expression on hepatic steatosis in mice with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)induced by high-fat diet (HFD). Methods A total of 30 male C57BL/6J mice were fed for 7 days to adapt to the environment and then randomly divided into 2 groups,with 15 mice in each group. The mice in the control group were given normal diet, and those in the model group were given HFD for 8 weeks and then the liver tissue was harvested. HE and Nile red staining were used to ob-serve the pathological changes of the liver. Microarray sequencing was performed to determine the whole-genome miRNA expression profile of liver tissue,and PCR was used to measure the relative expression of miR-384. The t-test was used for the comparison of continuous da-ta between groups. Results In the control group,the liver was red with sharp edges,the lobular structure was clear,and there was no he-patic steatosis;in the model group,the liver was yellow with blunt edges,and the hepatocytes were swollen with a large number of fat vacu-oles in the cytoplasm and nuclear deviation caused by the fusion of lipid droplets. Compared with the normal mice,the NAFLD mice had 12 upregulated miRNAs and 18 downregulated miRNAs in liver tissue. Some of the differentially expressed miRNAs between the control group and the model group were screened to obtain the same cluster diagram. Among the 8 miRNAs with significant changes,miR-384 showed a significant fold change. Conclusion The upregulation of miR -384 is closely associated with hepatic steatosis,but its mechanism still needs further study.

Objective To investigate the effect of serum containing Huangqi decoction on the proliferation, migration, and tubulogenesis of rat liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) induced by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its mechanism of action based on the protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. Methods The serum containing Huangqi decoction was prepared, and rat LSECs were isolated and cultured in vitro . Then rat LSECs were randomly divided into blank group, VEGF group, serum control group, and low-, middle-, and high-dose serum containing Huangqi decoction groups. MTT colorimetry, Transwell assay, and tubulogenesis assay were used to measure the proliferation, migration, and tubulogenesis abilities of LSECs in each group, and Western Blot was used to measure the protein expression levels of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (CD31), endothelin-1 (ET-1), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), as well as AKT, phosphorylated-AKT (p-AKT), mTOR, and phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR) in the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups, and the Tukey's test was used for further comparison between two groups. Results Compared with the blank group, the VEGF group and the serum control group had significantly promoted proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of rat LSECs (all P < 0.05), and Western Blot showed significant increases in the expression levels of CD31, ET-1, eNOS, and AKT/mTOR signaling pathway-related proteins (all P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the above indices between the VEGF group and the serum control group (all P > 0.05). Compared with the serum group, the middle- and high-dose serum containing Huangqi decoction groups had significantly inhibited proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of rat LSECs induced by VEGF (all P < 0.05), and Western Blot showed significant reductions in the expression levels of CD31, ET-1, eNOS, and AKT/mTOR signaling pathway-related proteins (all P < 0.01). Conclusion A relatively high dose of serum containing Huangqi decoction can significantly inhibit the proliferation, migration, and tubulogenesis of rat LSECs induced by VEGF, possibly by regulating the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.