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Effects of High Zinc Levels on the Lipid Synthesis in Rat Hepatocytes

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Abstract

Zinc deficiency impairs the hepatic lipid metabolism. Previous studies were focused on the negative effects of zinc deficiency on the hepatic lipid metabolism. A few studies investigated the effects of high zinc levels on the lipid metabolism in hepatocytes. In this study, rat hepatocytes were cultured and treated with different and high concentrations of zinc to investigate the effects of high zinc levels on the lipid synthesis in hepatocytes in vitro. The levels of hepatocytes functional markers, including alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, and albumin, were significantly higher in the zinc treatment groups than in the control group (p < 0.05, p < 0.01). The mRNA and protein levels of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c) were significantly higher in the zinc treatment groups than in the control group (p < 0.05, p < 0.01). Furthermore, the mRNA expression levels of acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) were significantly higher in the medium- and high-dose zinc treatment groups than in the control group (p < 0.01). The mRNA levels of stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD-1) were significantly higher in the high-dose group (p < 0.01). These results indicate that high levels of zinc increase hepatocytes activity and SREBP-1c expression, which upregulate the expression of ACC1, FAS, and SCD-1, thereby improving the lipid metabolism in the hepatocytes.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-11-0199), the National Key Technology R&D Program (grant no. 2012BAD12B03), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Beijing, China) (grant nos. 30871897, 31072178, 31172372, 31272621), and the Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Jilin University (grant no. 201100009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Ministry of Education, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, 5333 Xi’an Road, Changchun, Jilin, 130062, China

    Xinwei Li, Yuan Guan, Xiaoxia Shi, Hongyan Ding, Yuxiang Song, Chenggang Li, Rong Liu & Guowen Liu

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  1. Xinwei Li
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  2. Yuan Guan
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  3. Xiaoxia Shi
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  4. Hongyan Ding
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  5. Yuxiang Song
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  6. Chenggang Li
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  7. Rong Liu
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  8. Guowen Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guowen Liu.

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Xinwei Li and Yuan Guan contributed equally to this study.

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Li, X., Guan, Y., Shi, X. et al. Effects of High Zinc Levels on the Lipid Synthesis in Rat Hepatocytes. Biol Trace Elem Res 154, 97–102 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-013-9702-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-013-9702-z

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