Horm Metab Res 2020; 52(12): 869-876
DOI: 10.1055/a-1301-2378
Endocrine Research

The Role of Brown Adipose Tissue in the Development and Treatment of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis: An Exploratory Gene Expression Study in Mice

Toon J.I. De Munck
1   Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2   School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
,
Pan Xu
1   Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2   School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
,
Brechtje L.J. Vanderfeesten
1   Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
,
Montserrat Elizalde
2   School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
,
Ad A.M. Masclee
1   Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2   School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
,
Frederik Nevens
3   Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospitals KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
,
David Cassiman
3   Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospitals KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
,
Frank G. Schaap
2   School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
4   Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
5   Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, RWTH University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, Germany
,
Daisy M.A.E. Jonkers
1   Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2   School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
,
Jef Verbeek
3   Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospitals KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
› Institutsangaben
Funding Information This research was funded by a seeding grant of the School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) might be a beneficial mediator in the development and treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We aim to evaluate the gene expression of BAT activity-related genes during the development and the dietary and surgical treatment of NASH. BAT was collected from male C57BL/6J mice that received a high fat-high sucrose diet (HF-HSD) or a normal chow diet (NCD) for 4 and 20 weeks (n=8–9 per dietary group and timepoint) and from mice that underwent dietary intervention (return to NCD) (n=8), roux-en-y gastric bypass (RYGB) (n=6), or sham procedure (n=6) after 12 weeks HF-HSD. Expression of BAT genes involved in lipid metabolism (Cd36 and Cpt1b; p<0.05) and energy expenditure (Ucp1 and Ucp3; p<0.05) were significantly increased after 4 weeks HF-HSD compared with NCD, whereas in the occurrence of NASH after 20 weeks HF-HSD no difference was observed. We observed no differences in gene expression regarding lipid metabolism or energy expenditure at 8 weeks after dietary intervention (no NASH) compared with HF-HSD mice (NASH), nor in mice that underwent RYGB compared with SHAM. However, dietary intervention and RYGB both decreased the BAT gene expression of inflammatory cytokines (Il1b, Tnf-α and MCP-1; p<0.05). Gene expression of the batokine neuregulin 4 was significantly decreased after 20 weeks HF-HSD (p<0.05) compared with NCD, but was restored by dietary intervention and RYGB (p<0.05). In conclusion, BAT is hallmarked by dynamic alterations in the gene expression profile during the development of NASH and can be modulated by dietary intervention and bariatric surgery.

Supplementary Material



Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 14. April 2020

Angenommen nach Revision: 21. Oktober 2020

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
01. Dezember 2020

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 
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