Betaine Alleviates High-Fat Diet-Induced Disruptionof Hepatic Lipid and Iron Homeostasis in Mice

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Yue Feng¹  Lei Wu¹  Ruqian Zhao¹  Yimin Jia¹  Wenduo Jiang¹  Yanlin Li¹ 

[1]MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health & Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China

关键词: betaine;    high fat diet;    lipogenesis;    iron metabolism;    DNA methylation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms23116263

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by excessive fat deposition in the liver, which is often associated with disrupted iron homeostasis. Betaine has been reported to be hepatoprotective, yet whether and how betaine ameliorates high-fat diet-induced disruption of hepatic lipid and iron homeostasis remains elusive. In this study, mice were fed either standard (CON) or high-fat diet (HFD) for 9 weeks to establish a NAFLD model. Mice raised on HF diet were then assigned randomly to HF and HFB groups, HFB group being supplemented with 1% (w/v) of betaine in the drinking water for 13 weeks. Betaine supplementation significantly alleviated excessive hepatic lipid deposition and restored hepatic iron content. Betaine partly yet significantly reversed HFD-induced dysregulation of lipogenic genes such as PRAR$\mathsf{\gamma }$ and CD36, as well as the iron-metabolic genes including FPN and HAMP that encodes hepcidin. Similar mitigation effects of betaine were observed for BMP2 and BMP6, the up-stream regulators of hepcidin expression. Betaine significantly rectified disrupted expression of methyl transfer gene, including BHMT, GNMT and DNMT1. Moreover, HFD-modified CpG methylation on the promoter of PRAR$\mathsf{\gamma }$ and HAMP genes was significantly reversed by betaine supplementation. These results indicate that betaine alleviates HFD-induced disruption of hepatic lipid and iron metabolism, which is associated with modification of CpG methylation on promoter of lipogenic and iron-metabolic genes.

【 授权许可】

Unknown