Obesity-associated steatotic liver exhibits aberrant or altered sphingolipid composition and preferentially accumulates ceramide species containing long chain fatty acids

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DOI: 10.4236/health.2012.412A226    4,266 Downloads   6,361 Views  Citations

ABSTRACT

The sphingolipid (SL) signaling pathways are induced by reactive oxygen species and proin-flammatory molecules, which are shown to be upregulated in the obese state. The present work was conducted to determine if an altered SL pathway exists, and contributes to the pathogenesis of hepatic steatosis associated with obesity. Steatotic and non-steatotic livers were procured from Zucker Obese female rats and their lean counterparts in this pre-clinical study, and assessed for enzymes involved in degradation as well as in phos-phorylation of proapoptotic SLs. The expression of enzymes [sphingo-myelinase (SMase), ceramidase, and sphingosine kinase-1 (SK1)] and apoptotic proteins (Bax and Bcl-2) was quantified by ELISA and by Western Blot. Sphingomyelin (SM), ceramide, ceramide-1 phosphate (C1P), sphingosine (SPH), and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) levels were quantified by high-performance liquid chroma-tography (HPLC)-tandem mass spectroscopy (MS). Obese steatotic livers exhibited significantly upregulated ceramidase and down-regulated SK1 and C1P levels (P < 0.05), as well as significantly lower levels of SM and higher levels of ceramide species containing long chain fatty acids, compared to their lean counterparts. These findings demonstrate that obese liver harbours SLs that favour a proapoptotic environment. Moreover, accumulation of ceramides containing long chain fatty acids could be involved in the pathogenesis of hepatic steatosis.

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Burrows, E. and Bird, R. (2012) Obesity-associated steatotic liver exhibits aberrant or altered sphingolipid composition and preferentially accumulates ceramide species containing long chain fatty acids. Health, 4, 1578-1587. doi: 10.4236/health.2012.412A226.
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