Microarray Expression Profiling and Raman Spectroscopy Reveal Anti-Fatty Liver Action of Berberine in a Diet-Induced Larval Zebrafish Model

Abstract

significantly enriched with DEGs. The expression levels of the crucial genes from the functional analysis were also confirmed by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Conclusion: BBR can significantly improve hepatic steatosis in HCD-fed zebrafish larvae. Its mechanisms might be associated with the regulation of lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, and iron homeostasis. Raman imaging in larval zebrafish might become a useful tool for drug evaluation. Mainly, the gene expression profiles provide molecular information for BBR on the prevention and treatment of pediatric NAFLD.

Dietary berberine regulates lipid metabolism in muscle and liver of black sea bream (Acanthopagrus schlegelii) fed normal or high-lipid diets

“…Supplementation of 1, 3, 6 and 9 g/kg BBR in normal diet improved the growth performance of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), which might be attributed to the promotion of beneficial microflora regulated by BBR (23) . However, zebrafish larvae pretreated with high-cholesterol diet exposed to high dosage of BBR (5 and 25 μM) for 10 d caused a decrease in weight gain (25) . Therefore, the relationship between growth performance and BBR supplementation may vary with fish species, feeding mode, basal diet used, dietary BBR concentration and lipid level.…”

“…The mitigative effect of BBR against the impact of HL diets was reported in blunt snout bream (15,32) and obese rats (45) . BBR attenuated high-cholesterol diet -induced hepatic steatosis, liver lesion and mitochondrial damage in zebrafish (25) . In mammals, BBR alleviated fatty liver through promoting AMPdependent protein kinase pathway and improved fatty acid oxidation while suppressing the genes involved in lipogenesis (42) .…”

“…Similarly, some studies reported that BBR supplementation reduced plasma TAG and total cholesterol contents in blunt snout bream (21) , serum TAG and total cholesterol contents in grass carp (77) , serum TAG and LDL concentrations in rabbits fed with a high-fat diet (78) , plasma total cholesterol and TAG contents, as well as ALT and AST activities in obese rats (42) . Hepatic TAG, total cholesterol and glucose contents were reduced by BBR exposure in zebrafish larvae pretreated with high-cholesterol diet (25) . Previous studies demonstrated that BBR could reduce plasma LDL by increasing LDL receptor gene expression through stabilising LDLR receptor mRNA (15,79) , inhibit cholesterol absorption of the intestine (20) and prevent hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis (14) .…”

“…Recently, studies on blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) (15,24) and zebrafish (Danio rerio) (25) reported the prominent lipid-lowering effect of BBR, but as far as we know, the effects of dietary BBR in marine fish have not been investigated. Black sea bream (Acanthopagrus schlegelii) is a high-value commercially farmed tropical marine fish with high tolerance to environmental changes, desirable growth rate and good meat quality (1,26) .…”

Berberine inhibits free fatty acid and LPS-induced inflammation via modulating ER stress response in macrophages and hepatocytes

“…We also showed that knockout CHOP reduced ER stress-induced hepatic dyslipidemia and intestinal barrier dysfunction [47,48]. Most recent studies with high fat dietinduced NAFLD rodent models and Larval Zebrafish model indicated that several signaling pathways, such as the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/antioxidant response element (Nrf2/ARE), sirtuin 3 (SIRT3)/AMPK/ACC, and AMPK-SREBP1c-SCD-1 pathways, are potential targets [39,41,[49][50][51].…”