Saturated free fatty acid, palmitic acid, induces apoptosis in fetal hepatocytes in culture.
To investigate the effects of saturated free fatty acid, palmitic acid (PA), on hepatocytes, we administered PA to rat hepatocytes. We demonstrated that PA inhibited the cell growth as a dose- and time-dependent manner in rat hepatocytes. PA-induced morphological changes including swelling, membrane dissolution and formation of debris, and apoptosis with appearance of sub-G1 fraction determined by cell cycle analysis after treatment for 4 days. The level of Bcl-2 was slightly decreased, in contrast, the level of Bax elevated markedly, which resulted in a significant decrease of Bcl-2/Bax ratio after PA treatment on HepG2 cells. These findings demonstrated that PA induces cell death on hepatocytes, perhaps via mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, the present study indicates that PA's cell toxicity may play important roles in the transition from steatosis to steatohepatitis in human especially with obesity.
Ji
Jun
J
Department of Central Laboratory, Dalian Municipal Central Hospital, Xuegong Street 42, Shahekou-qu, Dalian 116033, China.
Zhang
Li
L
Wang
Ping
P
Mu
Yi-Ming
YM
Zhu
Xiao-Yu
XY
Wu
Yuan-Yuan
YY
Yu
Huan
H
Zhang
Bin
B
Chen
Shu-Min
SM
Sun
Xi-Zuo
XZ
D000818:Animals; D017304:Annexin A5 / Q000378:metabolism; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D049108:Cell Enlargement / Q000187:drug effects; D002469:Cell Separation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005333:Fetus / Q000166:cytology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019308:Palmitic Acid / Q000633:toxicity*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein
D017304:Annexin A5; C494828:Bax protein, rat; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D019308:Palmitic Acid