Korean J Intern Med.  2019 Jul;34(4):777-784. 10.3904/kjim.2017.100.

Duodenal Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 expression was negatively correlated with liver X receptor expression in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

• Ahn SB
• Jun DW
• Jang K
• Lee BH
• Shin KJ

• KMID: 2457307
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3904/kjim.2017.100

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Intestinal cholesterol absorption includes intestinal Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 (NPC1L1) and is an important target pathway in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We investigated the expression of NPC1L1 and its correlation with liver X receptor (LXR) expression in peripheral mononuclear (PMN) cells in patients with NAFLD.
METHODS
We evaluated intestinal expression of NPC1L1 in 25 NAFLD patients and 28 healthy controls. We calculated the mRNA expression levels of LXR and farnesoid X receptor (FXR), which are master players of cholesterol metabolism in PMN cells. The protein expression of ABCA1, ABCG5/8, NPC1L1, SREBP, LXR, FXR, and CD36 was measured on tissue samples from the duodenum and ileum.
RESULTS
The expression of LXR (p = 0.01) and FXR (p = 0.03) in PMN cells was increased in the NAFLD group compared to the control group. Duodenal NPC1L1 decreased in the NAFLD group compared to the healthy controls (3.38 ± 1.4 vs. 2.42 ± 1.2, p = 0.05). NPC1L1 expression in the duodenum was negatively correlated with LXR expression in PMN cells. Expression of LXR and FXR in the ileum was also negatively correlated with the expression of LXR in PMN cells.
CONCLUSIONS
Duodenal NPC1L1 expression was decreased in NAFLD and was negatively correlated with LXR expression in PMN cells.

Keyword

Liver X receptors; Farnesoid X receptor; Niemann-Pick C1-like 1; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

MeSH Terms

Absorption
Cholesterol
Duodenum
Humans
Ileum
Liver*
Metabolism
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease*
RNA, Messenger
Cholesterol
RNA, Messenger