Activated carbon N-acetylcysteine microcapsule protects against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in young rats via activating telomerase and inhibiting apoptosis

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming one of the world's most common chronic liver diseases in childhood, yet no therapy is available that has been approved by the food and drug administration (FDA). Previous studies have reported that telomere and telomerase are involved the development and progression of NAFLD. This study was designed to investigate the potential beneficial effects of activated carbon N-acetylcysteine (ACNAC) microcapsules on the development of NAFLD in young rats as well as the underlying mechanism(s) involved. Three-week old male Sprague Dawley rats were given high-fat diet (HFD) with/without ACNAC treatment for 7 consecutive weeks. Liver pathologies were determined by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Oil Red O staining, as well as by changes in biochemical parameters of plasma alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) levels, respectively. Glucose homeostasis was evaluated by the glucose tolerance test and the liver telomere length and activity were measured by real time PCR and telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP). Western blot analysis was performed to determine the expression level of Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3. Our results demonstrated that ACNAC supplementation improved liver pathologies of rats that received long-term HFD feeding. ACNAC supplementation prevented HFD-induced telomere shortening and improved telomerase activity. Moreover, in comparison to HFD-fed rats, ACNAC supplementation markedly increased the expression of Bcl-2, but significantly decreased the expression of Bax and Caspase-3 in juvenile rats. Together, these results indicate that ACNAC may be a promising choice for preventing and treating NAFLD among children.

N-Acetyl Cysteine Targets Hepatic Lipid Accumulation to Curb Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in NAFLD: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Literature

“…These markers included IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β, NF-κB, TGFβ-1, and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels ( Table 2 ). Unfortunately, this consequence was closely associated with liver injury, as demonstrated by increased hepatic levels of Bax and caspase-3, as reported in some studies [ 58 ].…”

Medical and Dietary Uses of N-Acetylcysteine

“…Such findings have yet to be replicated in humans. This is likely not solely due to NAC’s radical scavenging activity but also at least in part to telomerase activation and apoptosis inhibition [82], as is evidenced also by its capacity to delay oocyte aging [83]. However, antioxidants have the potential to either lengthen or shorten lifespan, depending on the dose and redox balance [84].…”

AP39 ameliorates high fat diet-induced liver injury in young rats via alleviation of oxidative stress and mitochondrial impairment

“…** P< 0.01 vs. Control; ^ P< 0.05, ^^ P< 0.01 vs. HFD. , the animals (3 week old) in the control group were fed with a normal fodder (purchased from Beijing Huanyu Zhongke Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China) for 7 weeks, while the other groups were fed a HFD (69% of basic feed, 10% of lard oil, 2% of cholesterol, 5% of sugar, 0.5% of cholate, 10% of yolk powder, 3% of yeast powder and 0.5% of decavitamin; BetterBiotechnology Co., Ltd., Nanjing, China) [ 21 ]. To investigate the impact of AP39 on HFD rats, the rats in HFD+L-AP39 and HFD+H-AP39 groups were injected daily by tail vein with AP39 (APExBIO, Houston, TX, USA) at the dose of 0.05 mg/kg or 0.1 mg/kg, respectively [ 19 ].…”

“…As shown in Figure 1A, the animals (3 week old) in the control group were fed with a normal fodder (purchased from Beijing Huanyu Zhongke Biotechnology Co., Ltd.) for weeks, while the other groups were fed a HFD (69% of basic feed, 10% of lard oil, 2% of cholesterol, 5% of sugar, 0.5% of cholate, 10% of yolk powder, 3% of yeast powder and 0.5% of decavitamin; BetterBiotechnology Co., Ltd., Nanjing, China) [21]. To investigate the impact of AP39 on HFD rats, the rats in HFD+L-AP39…”