BioProject

A high phosphorus (HP) diet causes disorders of renal function, bone metabolism, and vascular function. More...

A high phosphorus (HP) diet causes disorders of renal function, bone metabolism, and vascular function. We previously demonstrated that DNA microarray analysis is an appropriate method to comprehensively evaluate the effects of a HP diet on kidney dysfunction such as calcification, fibrillization, and inflammation. We reported that type IIb sodium-dependent phosphate transporter is significantly up-regulated in this context. In the present study, we performed DNA microarray analysis to investigate the effects of a HP diet on the liver, which plays a pivotal role in energy metabolism. DNA microarray analysis was performed with total RNA isolated from the livers of rats fed a control diet (containing 0.3% phosphorus) or a HP diet (containing 1.2% phosphorus). Gene Ontology analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed that the HP diet induced down-regulation of genes involved in hepatic amino acid catabolism and lipogenesis, while genes related to fatty acid β-oxidation process were up-regulated. Although genes related to fatty acid biosynthesis were down-regulated in HP diet-fed rats, genes important for the elongation and desaturation reactions of omega-3 and -6 fatty acids were up-regulated. Concentrations of hepatic arachidonic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid were increased in HP diet-fed rats. These essential fatty acids activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), a transcription factor for fatty acid β-oxidation. Evaluation of the upstream regulators of DEGs using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis indicated that PPARα was activated in the livers of HP diet-fed rats. Furthermore, the serum concentration of fibroblast growth factor 21, a hormone secreted from the liver that promotes fatty acid utilization in adipose tissue as a PPARα target gene, was higher (p = 0.054) in HP diet-fed rats than in control diet-fed rats. These data suggest that a HP diet enhances energy expenditure through the utilization of free fatty acids released via lipolysis of white adipose tissue. Overall design: Male Wistar rats (4 weeks old) were purchased from Japan SLC Co. (Hamamatsu, Japan) and individually housed in metabolic cages under controlled conditions of 22±1°C and a 12-hour light/dark cycle (lights on from 08:00 to 20:00 daily). Two different diets containing 0.3% phosphorous (control diet) and 1.2% phosphorous (HP diet) were prepared based on the AIN-93G diet (Table 1).9) All rats were fed the control diet for a 7-day acclimatization period. After acclimatization, rats were divided into two groups of similar mean body weight (n = 5 each) and then fed either the control or the HP diet for 24 days. The animals were allowed to eat ad libitum and had free access to water (MilliQ water).The protocol for the animal experiments was approved by the Animal Use Committee of the Faculty of Agriculture at The University of Tokyo. Please note that the animals used in this study are identical to those used in GSE31973. Less...