Figure 5.

Chlorogenic acid from burdock roots ameliorates hepatic steatosis through AMPK/ACC/CPT-1 pathway in HepG2 cells. Triglycerides (TG) are broken down into fatty acids (FA) by the action of cellular lipase. Acyl-CoA formed by fatty acids and acetyl-CoA can be transported to mitochondria by CPT-1 for β-oxidation of fatty acids. Chlorogenic acid phosphorylates AMPK by increasing the concentration of cAMP and the Ca²⁺/CaMKK₂ cascade reaction to enhance ACC phosphorylation levels and CPT-1 protein expression, which will strengthen β-oxidation of fatty acid and ameliorate steatosis.