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1 University Medical Center Groningen, Center for Liver, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases
2 University Medical Center Groningen, Center for Liver, Digestive and Metabolic Disease
3 Center for Liver, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: t.plosch{at}med.umcg.nl.
Cholesterol is critical for several cellular functions and essential for normal fetal development. Therefore, its metabolism is tightly controlled during all life stages. The Liver X Receptors
(LXR
; NR1H3) and
(LXR
; NR1H2) are nuclear receptors that are of key relevance in coordinating cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. The aim of this study was to elucidate whether fetal cholesterol metabolism can be influenced in utero via pharmacological activation of LXR and whether this would have long-term effects on cholesterol homeostasis. Administration of the LXR agonist T0901317 to pregnant mice via their diet (0.015% wt/wt) led to induced fetal hepatic expression levels of the cholesterol transporter genes Abcg5/g8 and Abca1, higher plasma cholesterol levels and lower hepatic cholesterol levels compared to controls. These profound changes during fetal development did not affect cholesterol metabolism in adulthood, nor influence coping with a high fat/ high cholesterol (HFHC) diet. This study shows that the LXR system is functional in fetal mice and susceptible to pharmacological activation. Despite massive changes in fetal cholesterol metabolism, regulatory mechanisms involved in cholesterol metabolism return to a 'normal' state in offspring and allow coping with a high fat/high cholesterol diet.
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E. M. E. van Straten, H. van Meer, N. C. A. Huijkman, T. H. van Dijk, J. F. W. Baller, H. J. Verkade, F. Kuipers, and T. Plosch Fetal liver X receptor activation acutely induces lipogenesis but does not affect plasma lipid response to a high-fat diet in adult mice Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, November 1, 2009; 297(5): E1171 - E1178. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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