Dietary fish oil up-regulates cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase mRNA in mouse liver leading to an increase in bile acid and cholesterol excretion.

Laboratoire de Biochimie et de Biologie Moléculaire, Université Victor Ségalen Bordeaux 2, Zone Nord - Case 49-146, 146 rue Léo-Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. annie.berard@u-bordeaux2.fr

To investigate the molecular events controlling reverse cholesterol transport, we compared gene expression of normal mouse liver to that of mice fed a long chain (LC) omega-3 fatty acid-enriched diet. Using cDNA microarrays, we assessed expression levels of 1176 genes, and we found that D-site binding protein (DBP) was three-fold increased in mice on a LC omega-3 fatty acid-rich diet compared to controls. DBP is known to increase transcriptional level of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase (C7alpha), the rate-limiting enzyme for bile acid production and cholesterol excretion, and we found that C7alpha mRNA was also up-regulated by LC omega-3 fatty acids. Moreover, liver X receptor-alpha, another transcription factor up-regulating C7alpha, was three- to four-fold increased in liver of treated mice. On the other hand, we demonstrated that bile acid and cholesterol excretion were two-fold increased. These results show that LC omega-3 fatty acids control cholesterol metabolism in mice at a new endpoint.

PMID: 14960319 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]