title: In ovo injection of betaine alleviates corticosterone-induced fatty liver in chickens through epigenetic modifications.
abstract: Betaine alleviates high-fat diet-induced fatty liver and prenatal betaine programs offspring hepatic lipid metabolism. Excessive corticosterone (CORT) exposure causes fatty liver in chickens, yet it remains unknown whether and how prenatal betaine modulates the susceptibility of CORT-induced fatty liver later in life. In this study, fertilized eggs were injected with saline or betaine before incubation, and the hatchlings were raised at 8 weeks of age followed by 7 days of subcutaneous CORT injection. CORT-induced fatty liver was less severe in betaine-treated chickens, with significantly reduced oil-red staining and hepatic triglyceride content (P < 0.05). The protective effect of prenatal betaine was associated with significantly up-regulated expression of PPARα and CPT1α, as well as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-encoded genes (P < 0.05). Moreover, betaine rescued CORT-induced alterations in methionine cycle genes, which coincided with modifications of CpG methylation on CPT1α gene promoter and mtDNA D-loop regions. Furthermore, the elevation of hepatic GR protein content after CORT treatment was significantly reduced (P < 0.05), while the reduction of GR binding to the control region of affected genes was significantly increased (P < 0.05), in betaine-treated chickens. These results indicate that in ovo betaine injection protects the juvenile chickens from CORT-induced fatty liver.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology &Biochemistry, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology &Biochemistry, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qinwei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology &Biochemistry, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology &Biochemistry, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology &Biochemistry, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Demin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology &Biochemistry, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Abdulrahman A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Idriss
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology &Biochemistry, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Nagmeldin A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Omer
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology &Biochemistry, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.|Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ruqian
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001622:Betaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002645:Chickens; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008715:Methionine / Q000378:metabolism; D015053:Zygote / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D001622:Betaine; D008715:Methionine; D003345:Corticosterone