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Chen Z, Shao W, Li Y, Zhang X, Geng Y, Ma X, Tao B, Ma Y, Yi C, Zhang B, Zhang R, Lin J, Chen J. Inhibition of PCSK9 prevents and alleviates cholesterol gallstones through PPARα-mediated CYP7A1 activation. Metabolism 2024; 152:155774. [PMID: 38191052 DOI: 10.1016/j.metabol.2023.155774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2023] [Revised: 12/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/31/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Dysregulated cholesterol metabolism is the major factor responsible for cholesterol gallstones (CGS). Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) plays a critical role in cholesterol homeostasis and its inhibitors secure approval for treating various cholesterol metabolic disorders such as hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular diseases, but its role in CGS remains unclear. Our study aims to clarify mechanisms by which PCSK9 promotes CGS formation and explore the application of the PCSK9 inhibitor, alirocumab, in preventing and treating CGS. APPROACH & RESULTS The expressions of PCSK9 were notably increased in CGS patients' serum, bile, and liver tissues compared to those without gallstones. Moreover, among CGS patients, hepatic PCSK9 was positively correlated with hepatic cholesterol and negatively correlated with hepatic bile acids (BAs), suggesting PCSK9 was involved in disrupted hepatic cholesterol metabolism related to CGS. Mechanistically, in vitro experiments demonstrated that inhibition of PCSK9 enhanced nuclear expression of PPARα by diminishing its lysosomal degradation and subsequently activated CYP7A1 transcription. Finally, inhibition of PCSK9 prevented CGS formation and dissolved the existing stones in CGS mice by elevating the conversion of cholesterol into BAs through PPARα-mediated CYP7A1 activation. Additionally, serum PCSK9 level may function as a prognostic signature to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of PCSK9 inhibitors. CONCLUSIONS Inhibition of PCSK9 exerts preventive and therapeutic effects on CGS by activating PPARα-mediated CYP7A1 expression and facilitating the conversion of cholesterol into BAs, which highlights the potential of PCSK9 inhibition as a promising candidate for preventing and treating CGS in clinical applications. IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS PCSK9 plays a pivotal role in cholesterol metabolism and its inhibitors are approved for clinical use in cardiovascular diseases. Our study observes inhibition of PCSK9 prevents and dissolves CGS by activating PPARα-mediated CYP7A1 expression and facilitating the conversion of cholesterol into BAs. Mechanistically, PCSK9 inhibition enhanced the nuclear expression of PPARα by diminishing its lysosomal degradation and subsequently activated CYP7A1 transcription. Our study sheds light on the new function and mechanism of PCSK9 in CGS, providing a novel preventive and therapeutic target with potential clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenmei Chen
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China; Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Weiqing Shao
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Yitong Li
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Xiandi Zhang
- Department of Ultrasound, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Yan Geng
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Xiaochen Ma
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Baorui Tao
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Yue Ma
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Chenhe Yi
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Bo Zhang
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Rui Zhang
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Jing Lin
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
| | - Jinhong Chen
- Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
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Amin MAS, Sonpol HMA, Gouda RHE, Aboregela AM. Bisphenol A enhances apoptosis, fibrosis, and biochemical fluctuations in the liver of adult male rats with possible regression after recovery. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2023; 306:213-225. [PMID: 35773941 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Revised: 06/12/2022] [Accepted: 06/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental contaminant that might be harmful. Human exposure to BPA can occur during the fetal and postnatal periods and extends throughout life. This study aimed to estimate the effects of oral administration of BPA on rat liver and assess the possibility of recovery after cessation. Adult male albino rats were orally administered with BPA (50 mg/kg body weight) for 8 weeks, and then one group was left to recover for 4 weeks. Histological, immunohistochemical, biochemical, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assessments were performed. Loss of hepatic architecture, vascular dilatation congestion, and exudation, as well as cellular vacuolation, fat accumulation, and pyknotic nuclei were detected. Furthermore, inflammatory infiltration, localized metaplasia, and excessive collagen deposition in the portal triad were observed. Expression of Bcl-2-associated X protein and transforming growth factor beta 1 was prominent, denoting apoptosis and fibrosis. After the administration of BPA, serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin, cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoproteins were enhanced. Additionally, total protein, albumin, and high-density lipoproteins decreased. After a recovery for 4 weeks, hepatic cellular and vascular pathologies returned to normal, except for some inflammatory infiltration. Regarding biochemical affection, most of the parameters were directed toward normal during recovery. However, most of them were still significantly different from controls. This explored BPA hepatotoxicity from structural and functional aspects, and the possible spontaneous reversibility was confirmed. However, the precise mechanisms underlying hepatotoxicity or recovery need more in-depth investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hany M A Sonpol
- Human Anatomy and Embryology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.,Basic Medical Sciences Department, College of Medicine, University of Bisha, Bisha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Rehab Hassan Elbanna Gouda
- Medical Biochemistry Unit, Zagazig Scientific and Medical Research Center, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
| | - Adel Mohamed Aboregela
- Human Anatomy and Embryology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.,Basic Medical Sciences Department, College of Medicine, University of Bisha, Bisha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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Khalil M, Belokrys G. What Does Twitter Say About Self-Regulated Learning? Mapping Tweets From 2011 to 2021. Front Psychol 2022; 13:820813. [PMID: 35282232 PMCID: PMC8907480 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.820813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Social network services such as Twitter are important venues that can be used as rich data sources to mine public opinions about various topics. In this study, we used Twitter to collect data on one of the most growing theories in education, namely Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) and carry out further analysis to investigate What Twitter says about SRL? This work uses three main analysis methods, descriptive, topic modeling, and geocoding analysis. The searched and collected dataset consists of a large volume of relevant SRL tweets equal to 54,070 tweets between 2011 and 2021. The descriptive analysis uncovers a growing discussion on SRL on Twitter from 2011 till 2018 and then markedly decreased till the collection day. For topic modeling, the text mining technique of Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) was applied and revealed insights on computationally processed topics. Finally, the geocoding analysis uncovers a diverse community from all over the world, yet a higher density representation of users from the Global North was identified. Further implications are discussed in the paper.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Khalil
- Centre for the Science of Learning & Technology (SLATE), Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
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El-Ashmawy NE, Al-Ashmawy GM, Fakher HE, Khedr NF. The role of WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway and glutamine metabolism in the pathogenesis of CCl 4-induced liver fibrosis: Repositioning of niclosamide and concerns about lithium. Cytokine 2020; 136:155250. [PMID: 32882667 DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2020.155250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Liver fibrosis is a serious health problem which may lead to advanced liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to investigate the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and glutamine aminohydrolase enzyme (l-glutaminase) in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis and the potential benefits of niclosamide in treating liver fibrosis. METHODS Ninety male Albino rats were divided into 6 equal groups (n = 15) as follows: a normal control group (NC), CCl4-only treated group (Fib.) which received 1 mg/kg CCl4 two times weekly, niclosamide-treated group (Niclo.) which received 5 mg/kg of niclosamide one time daily, lithium chloride-treated group (LiCl) which received 100 mg/kg of LiCl one time daily, niclosamide-and-CCl4-treated group (Niclo. + Fib.) which received same doses of niclosamide and CCl4 given to other groups, and finally lithium chloride-and-CCl4-treated rat group (LiCl + Fib.) which received same doses of LiCl and CCl4 given to other groups. All treatments were administered orally for 8 weeks. Liver tissue was assessed for l-hydroxyproline, beta-catenin (β-catenin), l-glutaminase activity, as well as the gene expression of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1) and Dishevelled-2 (Dvl2). Histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses of alpha smooth muscle actin α-SMA were performed. Serum alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and total bilirubin were measured. RESULTS The group of niclosamide-and-CCl4-treated rats showed a significant decrease in total bilirubin, ALT and AST, β-catenin, l-hydroxyproline, l-glutaminase activity, and gene expression of TGF-β1 and Dvl2. Moreover, the liver tissue in this group of rats showed mild α-SMA reactivity compared with the rats treated with CCl4 only (fibrosis group). On the other hand, lithium chloride-and-CCl4-treated rats showed a significant increase in liver indices, TGF-β1 expression, β-catenin, l-hydroxyproline, and l-glutaminase activity with severe α-SMA reactivity and apoptosis in the liver tissue. CONCLUSIONS Niclosamide protected rats against liver fibrosis by inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and glutaminolysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nahla E El-Ashmawy
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, Postal code: 31527, Egypt
| | - Ghada M Al-Ashmawy
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, Postal code: 31527, Egypt
| | - Hoda E Fakher
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Menoufia University, Postal code: 32511, Egypt.
| | - Naglaa F Khedr
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, Postal code: 31527, Egypt
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