Heart ATP-Binding Cassette Protein A1 and G1, Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-α and Liver X Receptors Genes Expression in Response to Intensive Treadmill Running and Red Crataegus pentaegyna (Sorkh valik) in Male Rats

Background and Objectives: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in persons with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, lupus). Atherosclerosis, which involves interplay between cholesterol metabolism and cellular inflammatory pathways, is primarily treated with statins since statins have lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory properties. The Lupus Atherosclerosis Prevention Study (LAPS) was designed to investigate the efficacy of statins against CVD in SLE patients. LAPS demonstrated that 2 years of atorvastatin administration did not reduce atherosclerosis progression in lupus patients. In this LAPs substudy, we use cultured macrophages to explore the atherogenic properties of plasma from LAPS subjects to explain the mechanistic rationale for the inability of statins to reduce CVD in lupus. Materials and Methods: THP-1 differentiated macrophages were treated for 18 h with 10% SLE patient plasma obtained pre- and post-atorvastatin therapy or placebo. Gene expression of the following cholesterol transport genes was measured by qRT-PCR. For efflux—ATP binding cassette transporter (ABC)A1 and ABCG1, 27-hydroxylase, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γ, and liver X receptor (LXR)α; and for influx—cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) and scavenger receptor (ScR)A1. Results: Macrophages exposed to plasma from both statin-treated and placebo-treated groups showed a significant decrease in cholesterol efflux proteins ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters A1 and ABCG1, an increase in 27-hydroxylase, an increase in the LDL receptor and a decrease in intracellular free cholesterol. No change in influx receptors ScRA1 and CD36, nor nuclear proteins LXRα and PPARγ was observed. Conclusions: Statins do not normalize pro-atherogenic changes induced by lupus and these changes continue to worsen over time. This study provides mechanistic insight into LAPS findings by demonstrating that statins are overall ineffective in altering the balance of cholesterol transport gene expression in human macrophages. Furthermore, our study suggests that statins as a CVD treatment may not be useful in attenuating lipid overload in the SLE environment.

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Effect of LXR/RXR agonism on brain and CSF Aβ40 levels in rats

F1000Research ◽

10.12688/f1000research.7868.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 138 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Songli Wang ◽

Paul Wen ◽

Stephen Wood

Keyword(s):

Principal Component ◽

Amyloid Plaques ◽

Peroxisome Proliferator ◽

Liver X Receptors ◽

Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽

Abnormal Accumulation ◽

Csf Levels ◽

X Receptors ◽

The Brain ◽

Receptor Family

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized pathologically by the presence of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The amyloid hypothesis contends that the abnormal accumulation of Aβ, the principal component of amyloid plaques, plays an essential role in initiating the disease. Impaired clearance of soluble Aβ from the brain, a process facilitated by apolipoprotein E (APOE), is believed to be a contributing factor in plaque formation. APOE expression is transcriptionally regulated through the action of a family of nuclear receptors including the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and liver X receptors (LXRs) in coordination with retinoid X receptors (RXRs). It has been previously reported that various agonists of this receptor family can influence brain Aβ levels in rodents. In this study we investigated the effects of LXR/RXR agonism on brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of Aβ40 in naïve rats. Treatment of rats for 3 days or 7 days with the LXR agonist, TO901317 or the RXR agonist, Bexarotene did not result in significant changes in brain or CSF Aβ40 levels.

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Activated Liver X Receptors Stimulate Adipocyte Differentiation through Induction of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ Expression

Molecular and Cellular Biology ◽

10.1128/mcb.24.8.3430-3444.2004 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 24 (8) ◽

pp. 3430-3444 ◽

Cited By ~ 187

Author(s):

Jong Bae Seo ◽

Hyang Mi Moon ◽

Woo Sik Kim ◽

Yun Sok Lee ◽

Hyun Woo Jeong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Target Gene ◽

Adipocyte Differentiation ◽

Specific Gene ◽

Peroxisome Proliferator ◽

Liver X Receptors ◽

Gene Promoters ◽

Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽

Specific Gene Expression ◽

X Receptors

ABSTRACT Liver X receptors (LXRs) are nuclear hormone receptors that regulate cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism in liver tissue and in macrophages. Although LXR activation enhances lipogenesis, it is not well understood whether LXRs are involved in adipocyte differentiation. Here, we show that LXR activation stimulated the execution of adipogenesis, as determined by lipid droplet accumulation and adipocyte-specific gene expression in vivo and in vitro. In adipocytes, LXR activation with T0901317 primarily enhanced the expression of lipogenic genes such as the ADD1/SREBP1c and FAS genes and substantially increased the expression of the adipocyte-specific genes encoding PPARγ (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ) and aP2. Administration of the LXR agonist T0901317 to lean mice promoted the expression of most lipogenic and adipogenic genes in fat and liver tissues. It is of interest that the PPARγ gene is a novel target gene of LXR, since the PPARγ promoter contains the conserved binding site of LXR and was transactivated by the expression of LXRα. Moreover, activated LXRα exhibited an increase of DNA binding to its target gene promoters, such as ADD1/SREBP1c and PPARγ, which appeared to be closely associated with hyperacetylation of histone H3 in the promoter regions of those genes. Furthermore, the suppression of LXRα by small interfering RNA attenuated adipocyte differentiation. Taken together, these results suggest that LXR plays a role in the execution of adipocyte differentiation by regulation of lipogenesis and adipocyte-specific gene expression.

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