Article

Nicotine alleviates the liver inflammation of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis induced by high-fat and high-fructose in mice

  • CHEN Xiao-mei ,
  • LI Fu-qiang ,
  • YAN Su ,
  • WU Xiao-cui ,
  • TANG Cui-lan
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  • (1. Department of Liver Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310005, China; 2. Department of Endoscopic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Whenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang, China)

Online published: 2016-10-18

Supported by

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81100279) and Xin-miao Talent Program of Zhejiang Province (2014R410058)

Abstract

Objective:To investigate the anti-inflammation effects by activation of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway and its mechanisms in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) model mice. Me-thods: 6-week-old male C57BL/6J (B6) mice were randomly divided into four groups: the first group was normal mice, injected with saline; the second group was normal mice, injected with nicotine; the third group was NASH model mice, injected with saline; the fourth group was NASH model mice, injected with nicotine. The experimental mice were fed with either standard chow (SC) or high-fat and high-fructose (HFHF) for 17 weeks to generate an NASH model mice. The mice received injection once daily for 3 weeks [nicotine dose, 400 μg/kg]. Then, their pathological characteristics and function of the liver were assessed. The expressions of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in serum were analyzed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expressions of alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7nAChR), Toll-like receptors-4 (TLR-4) and nuclear factor κB of phosphory-lation (p-NF-κB) in Kupffer cells were determined by Western blot and immunofluorescence assays. Results: We successfully generated NASH model mice by imitating the high-fat and high-fructose dietary style of NASH patients. The results of our investigation demonstrated that nicotine could reduce significantly the levels of IL-6, and TNF-α in serum (P<0.05). The expression of p-NF-κB protein in the group which was NASH model mice injected with nicotine declined significantly as compared with the group which was NASH model mice injected with saline (P<0.05). And the expression of α7nAChR protein elevated significantly conversely (P<0.05). Conclusion: Activation of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway could inhibit the release of inflammatory factors as TNF-α and IL-6 in NASH model mice, and the mechanism for the inhibition of inflammatory was mediated by NF-κB pathway.

Cite this article

CHEN Xiao-mei , LI Fu-qiang , YAN Su , WU Xiao-cui , TANG Cui-lan . Nicotine alleviates the liver inflammation of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis induced by high-fat and high-fructose in mice[J]. Journal of Peking University(Health Sciences), 2016 , 48(5) : 777 -782 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1671-167X.2016.05.005

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