title: Eicosapentaenoic acid improves hepatic steatosis independent of PPARα activation through inhibition of SREBP-1 maturation in mice.
abstract: Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in fish oil is known to improve hepatic steatosis. However, it remains unclear whether such action of EPA is actually caused by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) activation. To explore the contribution of PPARα to the effects of EPA itself, male wild-type and Ppara-null mice were fed a saturated fat diet for 16 weeks, and highly (>98%)-purified EPA was administered in the last 12 weeks. Furthermore, the changes caused by EPA treatment were compared to those elicited by fenofibrate (FF), a typical PPARα activator. A saturated fat diet caused macrovesicular steatosis in both genotypes. However, EPA ameliorated steatosis only in wild-type mice without PPARα activation, which was evidently different from numerous previous observations. Instead, EPA inhibited maturation of sterol-responsive element-binding protein (SREBP)-1 in the presence of PPARα through down-regulation of SREBP cleavage-activating protein and site-1 protease. Additionally, EPA suppressed fatty acid uptake and promoted hydrolysis of intrahepatic triglycerides in a PPARα-independent manner. These effects were distinct from those of fenofibrate. Although fenofibrate induced NAPDH oxidase and acyl-coenzyme A oxidase and significantly increased hepatic lipid peroxides, EPA caused PPARα-dependent induction of superoxide dismutases, probably contributing to a decrease in the lipid peroxides. These results firstly demonstrate detailed mechanisms of steatosis-ameliorating effects of EPA without PPARα activation and ensuing augmentation of hepatic oxidative stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Metabolic Regulation, Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. tanakan@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Xiuguo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Eiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kono
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Horiuchi
authors.forename: Takero
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kanbe
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011345:Fenofibrate / Q000494:pharmacology; D005838:Genotype; D015151:Immunoblotting; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D047493:PPAR alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051780:Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 1 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D047493:PPAR alpha; C497388:Srebf1 protein, mouse; D051780:Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 1; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid; D011345:Fenofibrate