Upregulation of Nrf2 expression in non-alcoholic fatty liver and steatohepatitis.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the expression of Nrf2 in the non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and steatohepatitis (NASH) in mice.


METHODS
Mice were fed a high-fat diet for 8 or 12 weeks before the serum levels of 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (F2-isoPG) were measured by ELISA; Liver Nrf2 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry.


RESULTS
Liver index, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), cholesterol (CHOL) and glucose (GLU) increased significantly (p<0.01) in the high fat diet group. The level of F2-isoPG was also statistically higher in the high fat diet group at both 8 and 12 weeks (p<0.05). Nrf2 expression showed robust upregulation in both the NAFL and NASH groups as compared to the control group (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant (p<0.05) difference in the overexpression of Nrf2 in the NASH group as compared to the NAFL group. Pearson correlation analysis showed a strong correlation between Nrf2 expression and the degree of hepatic steatosis and inflammation.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results showed that during the development of NAFL and NASH, F2-isoPG levels increased and Nrf2 expression was upregulated. Our findings suggest Nrf2 may play a key role during liver steatosis, and activation of Nrf2 may protect liver from inflammation damage induced by oxidative stress.
Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong University, Shandong, China.
Weihua
W
Xu
Luolin
L
Shao
Chengjun
C
Zhou
Hongbo
H
Wang
Jianqiang
J
Guo
D000818:Animals; D059305:Diet, High-Fat; D015237:Dinoprost / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2 / Q000502:physiology*; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; D015854:Up-Regulation
D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2; C495636:Nfe2l2 protein, mouse; C075750:8-epi-prostaglandin F2alpha; D015237:Dinoprost