Ability of high fat diet to induce liver pathology correlates with the level of linoleic acid and Vitamin E in the diet

Chondroitin Sulfate from Halaelurus burgeri Skin Inhibits Hepatic Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Inflammation, and Regulates Gut Microbiota

SCOPE

Previous study has demonstrated the chemical structure of chondroitin sulfate (CHS) from Halaelurus burgeri skin and its effects on insulin resistance. However, the precise impact of this phenomenon on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and inflammation, which contribute to insulin resistance, remains unclear. This study is to investigate the impact of CHS on ER stress, inflammatory response and signaling, and gut microbiota in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice.

METHODS AND RESULTS

HFD-fed C57BL/6J mice receive dietary gavage intervention of CHS for 18 weeks. Blood, liver tissue, and feces are harvested for further investigation. Results show that CHS inhibits ER stress, accompanied by lowered blood glucose, nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen (ROS), and free fatty acids (FFA) levels, and increases hepatic glycogen accumulation. Moreover, hepatic inflammation is improved by CHS treatment via inactivation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling and its downstream c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) pathways. Additionally, CHS regulates gut microbiota, particularly the decline in the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio. CHS also lowers fecal lipopolysaccharide and elevates several fecal short chain fatty acids.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that CHS from H. burgeri skin may be an alternative functional food supplement for anti-ER stress, anti-inflammtion, and regulation of gut microbiota.

Lipidomics Investigation Reveals the Reversibility of Hepatic Injury by Silica Nanoparticles in Rats After a 6-Week Recovery Duration

Given the inevitable human exposure owing to its increasing production and utilization, the comprehensive safety evaluation of silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) has sparked concerns. Substantial evidence indicated liver damage by inhaled SiNPs. Notwithstanding, few reports focused on the persistence or reversibility of hepatic injuries, and the intricate molecular mechanisms involved remain limited. Here, rats are intratracheally instilled with SiNPs in two regimens (a 3-month exposure and a subsequent 6-week recovery after terminating SiNPs administration) to assess the hepatic effects. Nontargeted lipidomics revealed alterations in lipid metabolites as a contributor to the hepatic response and recovery effects of SiNPs. In line with the functional analysis of differential lipid metabolites, SiNPs activated oxidative stress, and induced lipid peroxidation and lipid deposition in the liver, as evidenced by the elevated hepatic levels of ROS, MDA, TC, and TG. Of note, these indicators showed great improvements after a 6-week recovery, even returning to the control levels. According to the correlation, ROC curve, and SEM analysis, 11 lipids identified as potential regulatory molecules for ameliorating liver injury by SiNPs. Collectively, the work first revealed the reversibility of SiNP-elicited hepatotoxicity from the perspective of lipidomics and offered valuable laboratory evidence and therapeutic strategy to facilitate nanosafety.

MICOS Complex Loss Governs Age-Associated Murine Mitochondrial Architecture and Metabolism in the Liver, While Sam50 Dictates Diet Changes

The liver, the largest internal organ and a metabolic hub, undergoes significant declines due to aging, affecting mitochondrial function and increasing the risk of systemic liver diseases. How the mitochondrial three-dimensional (3D) structure changes in the liver across aging, and the biological mechanisms regulating such changes confers remain unclear. In this study, we employed Serial Block Face-Scanning Electron Microscopy (SBF-SEM) to achieve high-resolution 3D reconstructions of murine liver mitochondria to observe diverse phenotypes and structural alterations that occur with age, marked by a reduction in size and complexity. We also show concomitant metabolomic and lipidomic changes in aged samples. Aged human samples reflected altered disease risk. To find potential regulators of this change, we examined the Mitochondrial Contact Site and Cristae Organizing System (MICOS) complex, which plays a crucial role in maintaining mitochondrial architecture. We observe that the MICOS complex is lost during aging, but not Sam50. Sam50 is a component of the sorting and assembly machinery (SAM) complex that acts in tandem with the MICOS complex to modulate cristae morphology. In murine models subjected to a high-fat diet, there is a marked depletion of the mitochondrial protein SAM50. This reduction in Sam50 expression may heighten the susceptibility to liver disease, as our human biobank studies corroborate that Sam50 plays a genetically regulated role in the predisposition to multiple liver diseases. We further show that changes in mitochondrial calcium dysregulation and oxidative stress accompany the disruption of the MICOS complex. Together, we establish that a decrease in mitochondrial complexity and dysregulated metabolism occur with murine liver aging. While these changes are partially be regulated by age-related loss of the MICOS complex, the confluence of a murine high-fat diet can also cause loss of Sam50, which contributes to liver diseases. In summary, our study reveals potential regulators that affect age-related changes in mitochondrial structure and metabolism, which can be targeted in future therapeutic techniques.

Diabetes Warriors from Heart Wood: Unveiling Dalbergin and Isoliquiritigenin from Dalbergia latifolia as Potential Antidiabetic Agents in-vitro and in-vivo

Diabetes mellitus is a serious and complex metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia. In recent years natural products has gained much more interest by researchers as alternative sources for diabetes treatment. Though many potential agents are identified so far but their clinical utility is limited because of their adverse effects. Therefore, there is a keen interest in discovering natural compounds to treat diabetes efficiently with less side effects. Dalbergia latifolia is well explored because of its diverse pharmacological activities including diabetes. Therefore, the present research work aimed to identify and isolate the potential antidiabetic agents from the heart wood of Dalbergia latifolia. We successfully extracted DGN and ISG from the heartwood and evaluated their antidiabetic potential both in-vivo and in-vitro. Alpha amylase activity inhibition of ISG and DGN was found to be 99.05 ± 8.54% (IC50 = 0.6025 µg/mL) and 84.68 ± 5.2% (IC50 = 0.0216 µg/mL) respectively. Glucose uptake assay revealed DGN (158%) promoted maximum uptake than ISG (77%) over control. In vivo anti diabetic activity was evaluated by inducing diabetes in SD rats with the help of HFD and STZ (35 mg/kg body weight). After the continuous administration of DGN (5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg) and ISG (5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg) for 14 days, we observed the reduction in the blood glucose levels, body weight, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, very low-density lipoprotein, blood urea, serum creatinine, serum glutamate oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase and alkaline phosphatase levels than vehicle group indicates the potency of ISG and DGN against diabetes.

Facile adipocyte uptake and liver/adipose tissue delivery of conjugated linoleic acid-loaded tocol nanocarriers for a synergistic anti-adipogenesis effect

Obesity is a major risk to human health. Adipogenesis is blocked by α-tocopherol and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). However, their effect at preventing obesity is uncertain. The effectiveness of the bioactive agents is associated with their delivery method. Herein, we designed CLA-loaded tocol nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) for enhancing the anti-adipogenic activity of α-tocopherol and CLA. Adipogenesis inhibition by the nanocarriers was examined using an in vitro adipocyte model and an in vivo rat model fed a high fat diet (HFD). The targeting of the tocol NLCs into adipocytes and adipose tissues were also investigated. A synergistic anti-adipogenesis effect was observed for the combination of free α-tocopherol and CLA. Nanoparticles with different amounts of solid lipid were developed with an average size of 121‒151 nm. The NLCs with the smallest size (121 nm) showed greater adipocyte internalization and differentiation prevention than the larger size. The small-sized NLCs promoted CLA delivery into adipocytes by 5.5-fold as compared to free control. The nanocarriers reduced fat accumulation in adipocytes by counteracting the expression of the adipogenic transcription factors peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)γ and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP)α, and lipogenic enzymes acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FAS). Localized administration of CLA-loaded tocol NLCs significantly reduced body weight, total cholesterol, and liver damage indicators in obese rats. The biodistribution study demonstrated that the nanoparticles mainly accumulated in liver and adipose tissues. The NLCs decreased adipocyte hypertrophy and cytokine overexpression in the groin and epididymis to a greater degree than the combination of free α-tocopherol and CLA. In conclusion, the lipid-based nanocarriers were verified to inhibit adipogenesis in an efficient and safe way.

Marine Animal Co-Products-How Improving Their Use as Rich Sources of Health-Promoting Lipids Can Foster Sustainability

Marine lipids are recognized for their-health promoting features, mainly for being the primary sources of omega-3 fatty acids, and are therefore critical for human nutrition in an age when the global supply for these nutrients is experiencing an unprecedent pressure due to an ever-increasing demand. The seafood industry originates a considerable yield of co-products worldwide that, while already explored for other purposes, remain mostly undervalued as sustainable sources of healthy lipids, often being explored for low-value oil production. These co-products are especially appealing as lipid sources since, besides the well-known nutritional upside of marine animal fat, which is particularly rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, they also have interesting bioactive properties, which may garner them further interest, not only as food, but also for other high-end applications. Besides the added value that these co-products may represent as valuable lipid sources, there is also the obvious ecological upside of reducing seafood industry waste. In this sense, repurposing these bioresources will contribute to a more sustainable use of marine animal food, reducing the strain on already heavily depleted seafood stocks. Therefore, untapping the potential of marine animal co-products as valuable lipid sources aligns with both health and environmental goals by guaranteeing additional sources of healthy lipids and promoting more eco-conscious practices.

New insights into metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and oxidative balance score

Background

The relationship between oxidative stress and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has not been studied, which remains inadequately recognized. This is a cross-sectional study in a US adult population to explore the relationship between MASLD and oxidative balance scores (OBS), which containing integrating dietary nutrition and lifestyle factors.

Methods

We analyzed data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during 2017-2018. Multivariate logistic regression, restricted cubic spline curve (RCS) and subgroup analysis were used to investigate the association between OBS and MASLD. Cox regression analysis was utilized to assess the association between OBS and all-cause mortality among individuals.

Results

The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the highest quartile of OBS (Q4) was 0.30 (0.12, 0.77) (p = 0.012) compared to the lowest quartile of OBS (Q1). The RCS regression and subgroup analysis indicated an inverted relationship between OBS and the development of MASLD. The OBS Q4 group (HR: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.03-0.87; p = 0.035) exhibited a lower risk of all-cause death than the Q1 group.

Conclusion

OBS is statistically significantly and negatively correlated with the risk of MASLD and all-cause mortality in US adults. More prospective investigations are required to substantiate our findings.