Rapid screening and sensing of stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) inhibitors from ginger and their efficacy in ameliorating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a prevalent chronic metabolic condition, for which no approved medications are available. As a condiment and traditional Chinese medicine, ginger can be useful in reducing the symptoms of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Although its active ingredients and mechanisms of action are unknown, there is a lack of research on them. The purpose of this study is to prepare magnetite (Fe3O4)@Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) materials and analyze them using ultra-high performance liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) for rapid screening of potential inhibitors of SCD1 in ginger. Based on this analysis, it has been shown that the primary components in ginger that bind SCD1 directly are gingerols, with 10-gingerol having a greater affinity for binding to SCD1 than 8-gingerol and 6-gingerol. Moreover, further studies indicated that free fatty acids (FFA)-induced lipid accumulation is improved by this class of compounds in normal human hepatocytes (THLE-3), with 10-gingerol being the most effective compound. This study provides a new insight into the mechanism, by which ginger contributes to the improvement of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and provide support for the effective use of 10-gingerol for the treatment of NAFLD.