Effect of blueberry and probiotics on expression of PNPLA3 and SREBP-1c in rats with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

• Main Authors: ZHU Juanjuan, ZHOU Mingyu, CHENG Mingliang
• Format: Article
• Language: zho
• Published: Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2016-09-01
• Series: Linchuang Gandanbing Zazhi
• Online Access: http://www.lcgdbzz.org/qk_content.asp?id=7684

Objective To investigate the expression of patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3(PNPLA3) and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) in the rat model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) treated by blueberry combined with probiotics, as well as its mechanism of action in NAFLD. Methods A total of 36 clean Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into normal group (NG), model group (MG), spontaneous recovery group (SRG), blueberry group (BG), probiotics group (PG), and blueberry-probiotics group (BPG). Tissue sections were prepared after the experiment ended to observe serological and histological changes and measure the mRNA and protein expression of PNPLA3 and SREBP-1c. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison between multiple groups; the SNK-q test was used for data with homogeneity of variance, and the Tamhane′s-T2 test was used for data with heterogeneity of variance. Results The six groups showed significant differences in liver index, serum alanine aminotransferase, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein (F=384.908, 188.554, 75.523, 94.667, 95.235, and 132.586, all P＜0.01). The NAFLD activity score also showed a significant difference between the six groups (F=71.896, P＜0.01), and BPG showed a significantly greater reduction in the NAFLD activity score than MG, SRG, BG, and PG (all P＜0.01). The six groups showed significant differences in the positive rates of PNPLA3 and SREBP-1c in liver tissue (F=175.527 and 110.504, both P＜0.01), and BPG showed a significantly greater reduction in the positive rates of PNPLA3 and SREBP-1C than MG, SRG, BG, and PG (all P＜0.01). The mRNA and protein expression of PNPLA3 and SREBP-1c showed a significantly difference between the six groups. (F=375.822, 410.379, 288.940, 116.054, all P＜0.01). BPG showed significant reductions in the mRNA expression of PNPLA3 and SREBP-1c compared with MG, SRG, BG, and PG (all P＜0.01). Conclusion Blueberry combined with probiotics can effectively improve the structure of pathological tissues in NAFLD and reduce hepatocyte fatty degeneration. Its mechanism may be that the combination of blueberry and probiotics can reduce inflammation induced by inflammatory factors and downregulate the expression of SREBP-1c, and thus weaken PNPLA3 gene transcription, enhance cholesterol metabolism, and reduce lipid deposition. Therefore, it can be applied as adjuvant therapy for NAFLD.