{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:10:15Z","timestamp":1792789815461,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,18]],"date-time":"2022-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1655510400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Key R&amp;D program of Shaanxi China","award":["2020ZDLNY05-07"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020ZDLNY05-07"]}]},{"name":"Key R&amp;D program of Shaanxi China","award":["2021NY-126"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021NY-126"]}]},{"name":"Key R&amp;D program of Shaanxi China","award":["2021YFD1000305"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021YFD1000305"]}]},{"name":"National Key R&amp;D Program","award":["2020ZDLNY05-07"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020ZDLNY05-07"]}]},{"name":"National Key R&amp;D Program","award":["2021NY-126"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021NY-126"]}]},{"name":"National Key R&amp;D Program","award":["2021YFD1000305"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021YFD1000305"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>There is a consensus that ferulic acid (FA), the most prominent phenolic acid in whole grains, displays a protective effect in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), though its underlying mechanism not fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of FA on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD in mice and its potential mechanism. C57BL\/6 mice were divided into the control diet (CON) group, the HFD group, and the treatment (HFD+FA) group, fed with an HFD and FA (100 mg\/kg\/day) by oral gavage for 12 weeks. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&amp;E) staining and Oil Red O staining were used to evaluate liver tissue pathological changes and lipid accumulation respectively. It was demonstrated that FA supplementation prevented HFD-induced NAFLD, which was evidenced by the decreased accumulation of lipid and hepatic steatosis in the HFD+FA group. Specifically, FA supplementation decreased hepatic triacylglycerol (TG) content by 33.5% (p &lt; 0.01). Metabolic cage studies reveal that FA-treated mice have elevated energy expenditure by 11.5% during dark phases. Mechanistically, FA treatment increases the expression of rate-limiting enzymes of fatty acid oxidation and ketone body biosynthesis CPT1A, ACOX1 and HMGCS2, which are the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors \u03b1 (PPAR\u03b1) targets in liver. In conclusion, FA could effectively prevent HFD-induced NAFLD possibly by activating PPAR\u03b1 to increase energy expenditure and decrease the accumulation of triacylglycerol in the liver.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu14122530","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,19]],"date-time":"2022-06-19T10:14:52Z","timestamp":1655633692000},"page":"2530","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":54,"title":["Ferulic Acid Prevents Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease by Promoting Fatty Acid Oxidation and Energy Expenditure in C57BL\/6 Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Zhixin","family":"Luo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengqian","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qiong","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuhong","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Food Science and Technology, Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Lhasa 850000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fang","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3136-1565","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lan","family":"Gong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiome Research Centre, St George and Sutherland Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lin","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Min","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.28431","article-title":"Global epidemiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease-Meta-analytic assessment of prevalence, incidence, and outcomes","volume":"64","author":"Younossi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Hepatology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Valenzuela, R., and Videla, L.A. 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