title: Death receptor and mitochondria-mediated hepatocyte apoptosis underlies liver dysfunction in rats exposed to organic pollutants from drinking water.
abstract: Persistent organic pollutants in drinking water impose a substantial risk to the health of human beings, but the evidence for liver toxic effect and the underlying mechanism is scarce. This study aimed to examine the liver toxicity and elucidate the molecular mechanism of organic pollutants in drinking water in normal human liver cell line L02 cells and rats. The data showed that organic extraction from drinking water remarkably impaired rat liver function, evident from the increase in the serum level of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and cholinesterase, and decrease in the serum level of total protein and albumin. Organic extraction dose-dependently induced apoptotic cell death in rat liver and L02 cells. Administration of rats with organic extraction promoted death receptor signaling pathway through the increase in gene and protein expression level of Fas and FasL. Treatment of rats with organic extraction also induced mitochondria-mediated apoptosis via increasing the expression level of proapoptotic protein, Bax, but decreasing the expression level of antiapoptotic protein, Bcl-2, resulting in an upregulation of cytochrome c and activation of caspase cascade at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Moreover, organic extraction enhanced rat liver glutathione S-transferases activity and reactive oxygen species generation, and upregulated aryl hydrocarbon receptor and glutathione S-transferase A1 at both transcriptional and translational levels. Collectively, the results indicate that organic extraction from drinking water impairs liver function, with the involvement of death receptor and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in rats. The results provide evidence and molecular mechanisms for organic pollutants in drinking water-induced liver dysfunction, which may help prevent and treat organic extraction-induced liver injury.
authors: Key Laboratory of Environment Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Guanghong
authors: G
authors: Yang
authors: Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Research Center and Sino-US Joint Laboratory for Medical Sciences, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Zhiwei
authors: Z
authors: Zhou
authors: Key Laboratory of Environment Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Yanli
authors: Y
authors: Cen
authors: Key Laboratory of Environment Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Xiaolin
authors: X
authors: Gui
authors: Key Laboratory of Environment Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Qibing
authors: Q
authors: Zeng
authors: Key Laboratory of Environment Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Yunxia
authors: Y
authors: Ao
authors: Key Laboratory of Environment Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Li
authors: Key Laboratory of Environment Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Shiran
authors: S
authors: Wang
authors: Key Laboratory of Environment Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Li
authors: Key Laboratory of Environment Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Aihua
authors: A
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D060766:Drinking Water; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000633:toxicity*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D060766:Drinking Water; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; C491898:Fas protein, rat; C505662:Faslg protein, rat; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D019014:fas Receptor
keywords: Fas/FasL pathway; liver injury; mitochondrial pathway