Chiglitazar attenuates high-fat diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by modulating multiple pathways in mice

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide; however, effective intervention strategies for NAFLD are still unavailable. The present study sought to investigate the efficacy of chiglitazar, a pan-PPAR agonist, in protecting against NAFLD in mice and its underlying molecular mechanism. Male C57BL/6 J mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks to generate NAFLD and the HFD was continued for an additional 10 weeks in the absence or presence of 5 mg/kg/d or 10 mg/kg/d chiglitazar by gavage. Chiglitazar significantly improved dyslipidemia and insulin resistance, ameliorated hepatic steatosis and reduced liver inflammation and oxidative stress in NAFLD mice. RNA-seq revealed that chiglitazar alleviated HFD-induced NAFLD in mice through multiple pathways, including fatty acid metabolism regulation, insulin signaling pathway, and AMPK signaling pathway. This study demonstrated the potential therapeutic effect of chiglitazar on NAFLD. Chiglitazar ameliorated NAFLD by modulating multiple pathways. •At present, effective intervention strategies for NAFLD are still unavailable. This study demonstrated the potential therapeutic effect of chiglitazar, a pan-PPAR agonist, on NAFLD induced by a HFD in mice.•Chiglitazar significantly improved dyslipidemia and insulin resistance, ameliorated hepatic steatosis and reduced liver inflammation and oxidative stress in NAFLD mice.•RNA-seq revealed that chiglitazar alleviated HFD-induced NAFLD in mice through multiple pathways, including fatty acid metabolism regulation, insulin signaling pathway, and AMPK signaling pathway.