title: Basis of aggravated hepatic lipid metabolism by chronic stress in high-fat diet-fed rat.
abstract: Our previous study has demonstrated that long-term stress, known as chronic stress (CS), can aggravate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed rat. In this study, we tried to figure out which lipid metabolic pathways were impacted by CS in the HFD-fed rat. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (6 weeks of age, n = 8 per group) were fed with either standard diet or HFD with or without CS exposure for 8 weeks. Hepatic lipidosis, biochemical, hormonal, and lipid profile markers in serum and liver, and enzymes involved in de novo lipogenesis (DNL) of fatty acids (FAs) and cholesterol, β-oxidation, FAs uptake, triglycerides synthesis, and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) assembly in the liver were detected. CS exposure reduced hepatic lipidosis but further elevated hepatic VLDL content with aggravated dyslipidemia in the HFD-fed rats. There was a synergism between CS and HFD on VLDL production and dyslipidemia. PCR and western blot assays showed that CS exposure significantly promoted hepatic VLDL assembly in rats, especially in the HFD-fed rats, while it had little impact on DNL, β-oxidation, FAs uptake, and triglycerides synthesis in the HFD-fed rats. This phenomenon was in accordance with elevated serum glucocorticoid level. The critical influence of CS exposure on hepatic lipid metabolism in the HFD-fed rats is VLDL assembly which might be regulated by glucocorticoid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Long Mian Road, Nanjing, 211198, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Xiaobin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Keke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mengfei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jihua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015243:Cholesterol, VLDL / Q000378:metabolism*; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015243:Cholesterol, VLDL