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In vivo and in vitro experiments strongly support the view that marked increases in the levels of mRNA and in the activities of lipogenic enzymes that occur in liver and white adipose tissue of the rat after weaning to a high-carbohydrate diet are dependent on an increase in plasma glucose and insulin concentrations. An increased glucose metabolism is necessary for the expression of insulin effects on fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) mRNA accumulation in white adipose tissue, as insulin is ineffective in vitro in the absence of glucose. It is suggested that intracellular glucose-6-phosphate could play an important role in the effect of insulin on lipogenic enzyme gene expression in white adipose tissue. Other hormones and substrates could also play a role in the surge of lipogenesis after weaning. The fall in plasma glucagon after weaning to a high-carbohydrate diet could reinforce the insulin-induced accumulation of FAS and ACC mRNA, as this hormone inhibits the accumulation of lipogenic enzyme mRNA in liver and white adipose tissue. The decrease in the dietary supply of fat after weaning to a high-carbohydrate diet could also potentiate the accumulation of FAS and ACC mRNA in liver because long-chain poly-unsaturated fatty acids are potent inhibitors of the expression of the genes encoding liver lipogenic enzymes. A direct effect of fatty acids on a cis-acting element of the lipogenic enzyme genes could be involved, as the regulatory region of FAS gene contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid response element that shares some similarity with the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor recently described.

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ObjectivePrevious studies suggested that microRNA-21 may be upregulated in the liver in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but its role in the development of this disease remains unknown. This study aimed to determine the role of microRNA-21 in NASH.DesignWe inhibited or suppressed microRNA-21 in different mouse models of NASH: (a) low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient (Ldlr−/−) mice fed a high-fat diet and treated with antagomir-21 or antagomir control; (b) microRNA-21-deficient and wild-type mice fed a methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) diet; (c) peroxisome proliferation-activator receptor α (PPARα)-deficient mice fed an MCD diet and treated with antagomir-21 or antagomir control. We assessed features of NASH and determined liver microRNA-21 levels and cell localisation. MicroRNA-21 levels were also quantified in the liver of patients with NASH, bland steatosis or normal liver and localisation was determined.ResultsInhibiting or suppressing liver microRNA-21 expression reduced liver cell injury, inflammation and fibrogenesis without affecting liver lipid accumulation in Ldlr−/− fed a high-fat diet and in wild-type mice fed an MCD diet. Liver microRNA-21 was overexpressed, primarily in biliary and inflammatory cells, in mouse models as well as in patients with NASH, but not in patients with bland steatosis. PPARα, a known microRNA-21 target, implicated in NASH, was decreased in the liver of mice with NASH and restored following microRNA-21 inhibition or suppression. The effect of antagomir-21 was lost in PPARα-deficient mice.ConclusionsMicroRNA-21 inhibition or suppression decreases liver injury, inflammation and fibrosis, by restoring PPARα expression. Antagomir-21 might be a future therapeutic strategy for NASH.