Gene response elements, genetic polymorphisms and epigenetics influence the human dietary requirement for choline.
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Recent progress in the understanding of the human dietary requirement for choline highlights the importance of genetic variation and epigenetics in human nutrient requirements. Choline is a major dietary source of methyl-groups (one of choline's metabolites, betaine, participates in the methylation of homocysteine to form methionine); also choline is needed for the biosynthesis of cell membranes, bioactive phospholipids and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. A recommended dietary intake for choline in humans was set in 1998, and a portion of the choline requirement can be met via endogenous de novo synthesis of phosphatidylcholine catalyzed by phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) in the liver. Though many foods contain choline, many humans do not get enough in their diets. When deprived of dietary choline, most adult men and postmenopausal women developed signs of organ dysfunction (fatty liver, liver or muscle cell damage, and reduces the capacity to handle a methionine load, resulting in elevated homocysteine). However, only a portion of premenopausal women developed such problems. The difference in requirement occurs because estrogen induces expression of the PEMT gene and allows premenopausal women to make more of their needed choline endogenously. In addition, there is significant variation in the dietary requirement for choline that can be explained by common polymorphisms in genes of choline and folate metabolism. Choline is critical during fetal development, when it alters DNA methylation and thereby influences neural precursor cell proliferation and apoptosis. This results in long term alterations in brain structure and function, specifically memory function. (+info)
Lymphocyte gene expression in subjects fed a low-choline diet differs between those who develop organ dysfunction and those who do not.
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BACKGROUND: Some humans fed a low-choline diet develop hepatosteatosis, liver and muscle damage, and lymphocyte apoptosis. The risk of developing such organ dysfunction is increased by the presence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in folate and choline metabolism. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether these changes that occur in the expression of many genes when humans are fed a low-choline diet differ between subjects who develop organ dysfunction and those who do not. We also investigated whether expression changes were dependent on the presence of the SNPs of interest. DESIGN: Thirty-three subjects aged 20-67 y were fed for 10 d a baseline diet containing the recommended adequate intake of choline. They then were fed a low-choline diet for up to 42 d or until they developed organ dysfunction. Blood was collected at the end of each phase, and peripheral lymphocytes were isolated and used for genotyping and for gene expression profiling with the use of microarray hybridization. RESULTS: Feeding a low-choline diet changed the expression of 259 genes, and the profiles of subjects who developed and those who did not develop signs of organ dysfunction differed. Group clustering and gene ontology analyses found that the diet-induced changes in gene expression profiles were significantly influenced by the SNPs of interest and that the gene expression phenotype of the variant gene carriers differed significantly even with the baseline diet. CONCLUSION: These findings support our hypothesis that a person's susceptibility to organ dysfunction when fed a low-choline diet is modulated by specific SNPs in genes involved in folate and choline metabolism. (+info)
Toll-like receptor-4 signaling and Kupffer cells play pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
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BACKGROUND/AIMS: Studies in animal models and humans suggest a link between endotoxemia and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Since Kupffer cells are responsible for clearing endotoxin and are activated via endotoxin interaction with Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4), we examined the relationship between hepatic TLR-4 expression and Kupffer cell content during the genesis of steatohepatitis. METHODS: Male C57BL/6, C3H/HouJ and TLR-4 mutant C3H/HeJ mice were fed control or methionine/choline-deficient diet (MCDD). In one group of C57BL/6 mice, Kupffer cells were depleted by weekly intraperitoneal injections of clodronate liposomes. After 3 weeks, serum ALT activity and portal endotoxin levels were measured. Real-time PCR was used to examine mRNA expression of TLR-4, TLR-2, CD14, MD-2, TGFbeta, TNFalpha, CD36, PPAR-alpha, liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) and collagen alpha1. RESULTS: We observed histological evidence typical of steatohepatitis, portal endotoxemia and enhanced TLR-4 expression in wild type mice fed MCDD. In contrast, injury and lipid accumulation markers were significantly lower in TLR-4 mutant mice. Destruction of Kupffer cells with clodronate liposomes blunted histological evidence of steatohepatitis and prevented increases in TLR-4 expression. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate the importance of TLR-4 signaling and underscore a direct link between TLR-4 and Kupffer cells in the pathogenesis of steatohepatitis. (+info)
Methionine deficiency and hepatic injury in a dietary steatohepatitis model.
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Methionine (Meth) is an essential amino acid involved in DNA methylation and glutathione biosynthesis. We examined the effect of Meth on the development of steatohepatitis. Rats were fed (five weeks) amino acid-based Meth-choline-sufficient (A-MCS) or total deficient (MCD) diets and gavaged daily (two weeks) with vehicle (B-vehicle/MCD), or Meth replacement (C-Meth/MCD). To assess the effect of short-term deficiency, after three weeks one MCS group was fed a deficient diet (D-MCS/MCD). Animals fed the deficient diet for two weeks lost (29%) weight and after five weeks weighed one third as much as those on the sufficient diet, and also developed anemia (P < 0.01). Hepatic transaminases progressively increased from two to five weeks (P < 0.01), leading to severe hepatic pathology. Meth administration normalized hematocrit, improved weight (P < 0.05), and suppressed abnormal enzymes activities (P < 0.01). Meth administration improved blood and hepatic glutathione (GSH), S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), and hepatic lesions (P < 0.01). The deficient diet significantly upregulated proinflammatory and fibrotic genes, which was ameliorated by Meth administration. These data support a pivotal role for methionine in the pathogenesis of the dietary model of Meth-choline-deficient (MCD) steatohepatitis (NASH). (+info)
Gestational choline deficiency causes global and Igf2 gene DNA hypermethylation by up-regulation of Dnmt1 expression.
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During gestation there is a high demand for the essential nutrient choline. Adult rats supplemented with choline during embryonic days (E) 11-17 have improved memory performance and do not exhibit age-related memory decline, whereas prenatally choline-deficient animals have memory deficits. Choline, via betaine, provides methyl groups for the production of S-adenosylmethionine, a substrate of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs). We describe an apparently adaptive epigenomic response to varied gestational choline supply in rat fetal liver and brain. S-Adenosylmethionine levels increased in both organs of E17 fetuses whose mothers consumed a choline-supplemented diet. Surprisingly, global DNA methylation increased in choline-deficient animals, and this was accompanied by overexpression of Dnmt1 mRNA. Previous studies showed that the prenatal choline supply affects the expression of multiple genes, including insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2), whose expression is regulated in a DNA methylation-dependent manner. The differentially methylated region 2 of Igf2 was hypermethylated in the liver of E17 choline-deficient fetuses, and this as well as Igf2 mRNA levels correlated with the expression of Dnmt1 and with hypomethylation of a regulatory CpG within the Dnmt1 locus. Moreover, mRNA expression of brain and liver Dnmt3a and methyl CpG-binding domain 2 (Mbd2) protein as well as cerebral Dnmt3l was inversely correlated to the intake of choline. Thus, choline deficiency modulates fetal DNA methylation machinery in a complex fashion that includes hypomethylation of the regulatory CpGs within the Dnmt1 gene, leading to its overexpression and the resultant increased global and gene-specific (e.g. Igf2) DNA methylation. These epigenomic responses to gestational choline supply may initiate the long term developmental changes observed in rats exposed to varied choline intake in utero. (+info)
Influence of preconditioning-like hypoxia on the liver of developing methyl-deficient rats.
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Deficiency in nutritional determinants of homocysteine (HCY) metabolism, such as vitamin B(12) and folate, during pregnancy is known to influence HCY levels in the progeny, which in turn may exert adverse effects during development, including liver defects. Since short hypoxia has been shown to induce tolerance to subsequent stress in various cells including hepatocytes, and as vitamins B deficiency and hypoxic episodes may simultaneously occur in neonates, we aimed to investigate the influence of brief postnatal hypoxia (100% N(2) for 5 min) on the liver of rat pups born from dams fed a deficient regimen, i.e., depleted in vitamins B(12), B(2), folate, and choline. Four experimental groups were studied: control, hypoxia, deficiency, and hypoxia + deficiency. Although hypoxia transiently stimulated HCY catabolic pathways, it was associated with a progressive increase of hyperhomocysteinemia in deficient pups, with a fall of cystathionine beta-synthase activity at 21 days. At this stage, inducible NO synthase activity was dramatically increased and glutathione reductase decreased, specifically in the group combining hypoxia and deficiency. Also, hypoxia enhanced the deficiency-induced drop of the S-adenosylmethionine/S-adenosylhomocysteine ratio. In parallel, early exposure to the methyl-deficient regimen induced oxidative stress and led to hepatic steatosis, which was found to be more severe in pups additionally exposed to hypoxia. In conclusion, brief neonatal hypoxia may accentuate the long-term adverse effects of impaired HCY metabolism in the liver resulting from an inadequate nutritional regimen during pregnancy, and our data emphasize the importance of early factors on adult disease. (+info)
Alpha-lipoic acid promotes the growth of rat hepatic pre-neoplastic lesions in the choline-deficient model.
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alpha-lipoic acid (alpha-LA) is an antioxidant used in a number of conditions related to liver diseases. Herein, we investigated the effect of alpha-LA on the development of rat pre-neoplastic lesions generated by a model of hepatocarcinogenesis, which has similarities in its histopathological sequence to human hepatocellular carcinoma development with cirrhosis. Initiation of hepatocytes was achieved by treatment with a single dose of diethylnitrosamine and promotion by feeding a choline-methionine-deficient diet (CMD), with or without alpha-LA. Pre-neoplastic lesions were identified by their positivity to the placental form of glutathione S-transferase (GSTP) or to gamma glutamyl transpeptidase. alpha-LA given to rats fed a CMD for 6 weeks dramatically increased the number of GSTP-positive foci as compared with rats fed a CMD alone (96/cm(2) versus 7/cm(2)), the mean foci area (0.033 versus 0.008 mm(2)) and the percentage of GSTP-positive liver tissue (3.01 versus 0.07%). Essentially similar results were obtained after 10 weeks of treatment. Co-treatment with CMD + alpha-LA also resulted in the enhancement of fat accumulation, lipid peroxidation and hepatocyte death; increased expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, cytochrome 2E1 and cyclooxygenase-2, enhanced activation of c-jun N-terminal kinase and signal transducer activator of transcription 3, and chronic hepatocyte proliferation was also observed. No such effects were observed when alpha-LA was added to a choline-supplemented diet. In conclusion, administration of alpha-LA in conditions associated with hepatic damage aggravates liver injury and stimulates the development of pre-neoplastic lesions; the results also suggest caution in its use in the presence of chronic liver injury. (+info)
Constitutive androstane receptor agonist, TCPOBOP, attenuates steatohepatitis in the methionine choline-deficient diet-fed mouse.
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AIM: To ascertain whether constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) activation by 1,4-bis-[2-(3,5,-dichloropyridyloxy)] benzene (TCPOBOP) modulates steatohepatitis in the methionine choline-deficient (MCD) diet-fed animal. METHODS: C57/BL6 wild-type mice were fed the MCD or standard diet for 2 wk and were treated with either the CAR agonist, TCPOBOP, or the CAR inverse agonist, androstanol. RESULTS: Expression of CYP2B10 and CYP3A11, known CAR target genes, increased 30-fold and 45-fold, respectively, in TCPOBOP-treated mice fed the MCD diet. TCPOBOP treatment reduced hepatic steatosis (44.6 +/- 5.4% vs 30.4 +/- 4.5%, P < 0.05) and serum triglyceride levels (48 +/- 8 vs 20 +/- 1 mg/dL, P < 0.05) in MCD diet-fed mice as compared with the standard diet-fed mice. This reduction in hepatic steatosis was accompanied by an increase in enzymes involved in fatty acid microsomal omega-oxidation and peroxisomal beta-oxidation, namely CYP4A10, LPBE, and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase. The reduction in steatosis was also accompanied by a reduction in liver cell apoptosis and inflammation. In contrast, androstanol was without effect on any of the above parameters. CONCLUSION: CAR activation stimulates induction of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, and ameliorates hepatic steatosis, apoptosis and inflammation. (+info)