Open Access

ARTICLE

MicroRNA expression profile and lipid metabolism characteristics in liver of rat undergoing high-fat diet

Wen JING^1,§, Chuanfen LI^2,3,§, Yingli LU⁴, Lianshi FENG⁴

1 College of Physical Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
2 College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
3 Department of Neurology, The 960th Hospital of the Joint Logistic Support Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Jinan, 250031, China
4 Biology Center, China Institute of Sport Science, Beijing, 100061, China
§ These authors contributed equally to this work

* Address correspondence to: Wen Jing, .

BIOCELL 2019, 43(3), 129-138. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2019.06087

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the microRNA expression profile and the characteristics of lipid metabolism in the livers of rats undergoing a high-fat diet. Fifty male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into a standard chow group (C group, N = 10) and a high-fat diet group (H group, N = 40). After 12 weeks, the rat body weight, body length, fat mass, and serum lipid concentration were measured. The expression profile of microRNAs and the gene and protein expression levels involved in lipid metabolism in rat liver were detected. Body fat and serum lipid concentrations were all significantly higher in the H group than those in the C group (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). The expression of 10 microRNAs showed significant differences in the liver (p < 0.05). In particular, the let-7 family expression levels significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the H group compared with those in the C group. Compared with the C group, the high-fat diet resulted in low FAS, CPT1A, and ApoAI mRNA expression levels (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01) and high PPARα and FAT/CD36 mRNA expression levels in the H group rat liver (p < 0.01). Meanwhile, the protein PPARα, FAS, CPT1A, FAT/CD36, and ApoAI expression levels were all significantly lower in the H group than those in the C group (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). In conclusion, the high-fat diet increased the body fat and serum lipid levels and altered the 10 microRNA expression levels in the liver. The high-fat diet may affect hepatic carbohydrate metabolism and increase ectopic fat accumulation through let-7 family overexpression. The high-fat diet for 12 weeks decreased lipid metabolism level in the liver, thereby decreasing fatty acid synthesis, oxidation, and transport by down-regulating the PPARα, FAS, CPT1A, FAT/CD36, and ApoAI protein levels.

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