Hepatic contribution to newly made fatty acids in adipose tissue in rats and inhibition of hepatic and extrahepatic lipogenesis from glucose by dietary corn oil

Orlistat as a FASN inhibitor and multitargeted agent for cancer therapy

INTRODUCTION

Cancer cells have increased glycolysis and glutaminolysis. Their third feature is increased de novo lipogenesis. As such, fatty acid (FA) synthesis enzymes are over-expressed in cancer and their depletion causes antitumor effects. As fatty acid synthase (FASN) plays a pivotal role in this process, it is an attractive target for cancer therapy.

AREAS COVERED

This is a review of the lipogenic phenotype of cancer and how this phenomenon can be exploited for cancer therapy using inhibitors of FASN, with particular emphasis on orlistat as a repurposing drug.

EXPERT OPINION

Disease stabilization only has been observed with a highly selective FASN inhibitor used as a single agent in clinical trials. It is too early to say whether the absence of tumor responses other than stabilization results because even full inhibition of FASN is not enough to elicit antitumor responses. The FASN inhibitor orlistat is a 'dirty' drug with target-off actions upon at least seven targets with a proven role in tumor biology. The development of orlistat formulations suited for its intravenous administration is a step ahead to shed light on the concept that drug promiscuity can or not be a virtue.

Coordinated changes in xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme gene expression in aging male rats

In order to gain insight into the effects of aging on susceptibility to environmental toxins, we characterized the expression of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes (XMEs) from the livers of male F344 and Brown Norway (BN) rats across the adult lifespan. Using full-genome Affymetrix arrays, principal component analysis showed a clear age-dependent separation between young and old animals in both rat strains. Out of 1135 or 1435 genes altered between the old and young groups in the F344 or BN rats, 7 or 3% were XMEs and included members of the phase I, II, and III classes of genes. There was a 20 or 32% overlap in the gene expression profile between the two strains for F344 or BN, respectively. Lipid, ergosterol, alcohol, and fatty acid metabolism genes were also altered with age in both strains. Some of the genes altered by age exhibited a gender-dependent expression pattern in young adult rats, suggesting an increasingly feminized pattern of gene expression with age in male rats. To examine transcriptional responses across lifespan after challenge with a xenobiotic compound, BN rats were exposed to toluene by oral gavage. Toluene exposure decreased the expression of glutathione synthetase, and dramatically increased the number of phase III genes being downregulated. The expression of CYP2B2 and glutathione-S-transferase decreased with age but increased in all age groups after toluene exposure. Decreased ability to detoxify and transport chemicals out of the body with age could result in increased susceptibility to some classes of chemicals in the aging population.

Differences in labelled triolein turnover after oral administration between liver and adipose tissue of rats

To investigate exogenous triacylglycerol turnover, the time courses for labelled triolein in the liver, plasma and epididymal adipose tissue (adipose tissue) after oral administration to rats fed a fat-free or 10 % corn oil diet for 3 d after fasting overnight were examined for 10 d. After the administration of labelled triolein to rats fed the fat-free diet, the incorporation (dpm/g) into total lipids of the liver and adipose tissue each reached the maximum in 8 h and was seven times higher in the adipose tissue than in the liver. The half-lives of total lipid radioactivities during the decreasing phases were 0·39 and 2·58 d, respectively, in the rapid and slow phases of the decay curve in the liver, and 4·78 d in only one phase of the adipose tissue. Radioactivity after administration of labelled triolein was mostly found in the oleic acid in the tissues. The half-life of oleic acid was 3·92 d in the adipose tissues. These half-lives were similar in both dietary groups. Thus, although dietary corn oil reduced the triolein incorporation to cellular lipids in comparison to the fat-free diet, it did not affect these half-lives. The labelled triacylglycerol–oleic acid stayed abundantly intact for a long time in the adipose tissue and was scarcely changed to other fatty acids, whereas it was slightly incorporated into total lipids and quickly metabolized in the liver. Non-essential fatty acids may be mostly endogenous in the liver but may be exogenous and endogenous in adipose tissue.

A comparison of extrahepatic lipogenesis from a small glucose meal in obob and gold thioglucose obese mice fed low- or high-fat diets with or without the addition of Delta22-5beta-taurocholenic acid

Extrahepatic fatty acid synthesis from a 250 mg meal of [U-(14)C]-glucose was measured in epidymal fat pads and the remaining carcass of hyperglycemic obese (obob), gold thioglucose obese, and nonobese controls under conditions of maximum and minimum lipogenesis. Also assessed was the effect of Delta(22)-5beta-taurocholenic acid, previously shown to inhibit hepatic fatty acid synthesis. Both types of obese and nonobese mice were fed for 6 weeks glucose-based diets containing either 1% corn oil or 40% lard with or without the addition of 0.05% taurocholenic acid. In mice fed 1% corn oil, incorporation of labeled glucose into carcass fatty acids was 25% greater in nonobese than obese mice of either type of obesity. On this diet incorporation of labeled glucose into epididymal fatty acids was reduced 83% in hyperglycemic obese mice compared with nonobese littermates. The corresponding reduction in lipogenesis in gold thioglucose obese mice was only 23% compared with nonobese controls. Feeding 40% lard reduced incorporation of labeled glucose into epididymal and carcass fatty acid 67 to 95% compared with mice fed 1% corn oil in both types of obese and nonobese mice whether or not taurocholenic acid had been fed. Both types of obesity or feeding 40% lard reduced lipogenesis in fat pads to a greater extent than glucose uptake by the pads with the reductions additive. Feeding taurocholenic acid reduced pad weight 30% across strain and obesity status, increased uptake of labeled glucose into epididymal fat pads and increased the percentage of the labeled glucose in the pad recovered as fatty acid in both types of obese and nonobese mice when the diet was 1% corn oil. Similarities and differences between the two obesity models are discussed.

Comment on the significance of positive carcinogenicity studies using gavage as the route of exposure

There is continuing controversy, extending into regulatory matters, over the significance to human health of positive results in carcinogenicity studies in animals using the gavage technique as the route of exposure. Our review of a nonrandom sample of 117 chemicals or chemical processes listed as known or reasonably anticipated to be carcinogenic in the National Toxicology Program's Third Annual Report on Carcinogens provides support for the validity of the gavage route in such studies. Twenty-three chemicals among the 117 substances and processes listed were positive by gavage. Twenty of these 23 chemicals were also appropriately studied by at least one other route of exposure. Thus, we were able to evaluate the extent to which positive gavage results were confirmed by another route of exposure in this sample. Nineteen (or 95%) of the twenty chemicals were positive for carcinogenicity by at least one other nongavage route in carcinogenicity bioassays. Moreover, in each of these 19 cases, positive carcinogenesis results were obtained by a nongavage route in the same species of animal where gavage administration led to the induction of cancer. All of the 23 gavage-positive chemicals induced tumors distal to the site of administration in at least one study, as did all 15 chemicals which were also positive by subcutaneous injection. We emphasize, however, the limited scope of our survey. We have not evaluated all chemicals that have tested positive by gavage and by at least one alternative route, nor have we assessed those chemicals found to be negative by the gavage route.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Lipogenesis in the sand rat (Psammomys obesus)

Synthesis of fatty acids was measured in the liver and in epididymal adipose tissue of sand rats and albino rats. In chow-fed sand rats the rate of hepatic lipogenesis, as measured by the incorporation of 3H2O into fatty acids, was four- to sevenfold higher than in albino rats and in sand rats on a low-calorie saltbush diet. The contribution of [14C]glucose to lipogenesis in sand rat liver was lower than in albino rats. In fed sand rats lipogenesis incorporating 3H2O was stimulated by casein but not by glucose. In adipose tissue, lipogenesis measured 1 h after administration of 3H2O was much lower in sand rats than in albino rats. In vitro incorporation of [14C]glucose or acetate into adipose tissue fatty acids was negligible. In adipose tissue, uptake of very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) and lipoprotein lipase activity were sevenfold higher than in albino rats. Activities of NADP-malate dehydrogenase, acetyl CoA carboxylase, and fatty acid synthetase were considerably higher in the liver of chow-fed sand rats than in albino rats. It was concluded that obesity in sand rats originates from hepatic lipogenesis without a significant contribution of local fatty acid synthesis in adipose tissue.