DDDAS Design of Drug Interventions for the Treatment of Dyslipidemia in ApoE-/- Mice

Understanding the Causes and Implications of Endothelial Metabolic Variation in Cardiovascular Disease through Genome-Scale Metabolic Modeling

High-throughput biochemical profiling has led to a requirement for advanced data interpretation techniques capable of integrating the analysis of gene, protein, and metabolic profiles to shed light on genotype-phenotype relationships. Herein, we consider the current state of knowledge of endothelial cell (EC) metabolism and its connections to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and explore the use of genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) for integrating metabolic and genomic data. GEMs combine gene expression and metabolic data acting as frameworks for their analysis and, ultimately, afford mechanistic understanding of how genetic variation impacts metabolism. We demonstrate how GEMs can be used to investigate CVD-related genetic variation, drug resistance mechanisms, and novel metabolic pathways in ECs. The application of GEMs in personalized medicine is also highlighted. Particularly, we focus on the potential of GEMs to identify metabolic biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction and to discover methods of stratifying treatments for CVDs based on individual genetic markers. Recent advances in systems biology methodology, and how these methodologies can be applied to understand EC metabolism in both health and disease, are thus highlighted.

BSN723T Prevents Atherosclerosis and Weight Gain in ApoE Knockout Mice Fed a Western Diet

OBJECTIVE

This study tests the hypothesis that BSN723T can prevent the development of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis in ApoE^-/- knockout mice fed a Western (high fat, high cholesterol, and high sucrose) diet. BSN723T is a combination drug therapy consisting of D-tagatose and dihydromyricetin (BSN723).

BACKGROUND

D-tagatose has an antihyperglycemic effect in animal and human studies and shows promise as a treatment for type 2 diabetes and obesity. Many claims regarding BSN723's pharmacological activities have been made including anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, and anti-atherosclerotic effects. To our knowledge this is the first study that combines D-tagatose and BSN723 for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and the prevention of atherosclerosis.

METHODS

ApoE-deficient mice were randomized into five groups with equivalent mean body weights. The mice were given the following diets for 8 weeks: Group 1 - Standard diet; Group 2 - Western diet; Group 3 - Western diet formulated with D-tagatose; Group 4 - Western diet formulated with BSN723; Group 5 - Western diet formulated with BSN723T. Mice were measured for weight gain, tissue and organ weights, total serum cholesterol and triglycerides and formation of atherosclerosis.

RESULTS

The addition of D-tagatose, either alone or in combination with BSN723, prevented the increase in adipose tissue and weight gain brought on by the Western diet. Both D-tagatose and BSN723 alone reduced total cholesterol and the formation of atherosclerosis in the aorta compared to mice on the Western diet. Addition of BSN723 to D-tagatose (BSN723T) did not increase efficacy in prevention of increases in cholesterol or atherosclerosis compared to D-tagatose alone.

CONCLUSION

Addition of either D-tagatose or BSN723 alone to a Western diet prevented weight gain, increases in total serum cholesterol and triglycerides, and the formation of atherosclerosis. However, there was no additive or synergistic effect on the measured parameters with the combination BSN723T treatment.