High-fat diet increases NF-κB signaling in the prostate of reporter mice

High-fat diet (HFD) is considered as a major risk factor for benign prostatic diseases and cancer in the Western world. Studies have shown an association between oxidative stress and prostatic diseases. NF-κB has been implicated in stress response and is deregulated in prostrate disorders; therefore, we sought to determine whether HFD could induce oxidative stress in the prostate which could contribute to prostatic diseases.

Transgenic NF-κB-Luc-Tag mice were either fed with regular diet (RD) or HFD for 12 weeks. Serial, non-invasive molecular imaging was performed to study NF-κB activation in the whole body, and in various organs including thymus, spleen, and prostate. Western blotting was used to determine the expression of NF-κB, its upstream and downstream targets in the prostate.

Twofold increase in whole body NF-κB activity in vivo and two to threefold upregulated prostate NF-κB activity ex vivo were observed after HFD intake compared with RD controls. HFD-induced NF-κB activity was elevated remarkably in the abdominal cavity, thymus, spleen, and prostate with increase in prostrate weight. In the prostrate, an increase in the protein expression of gp91(phox) , p22(phox) , and p47(phox) NADPH oxidase subunits was observed suggesting the involvement of HFD in causing oxidative stress. Nuclear extracts from the prostrate tissue showed an increased expression of p65/RelA that corresponded with elevated cytosolic levels of p-IκBα, along with increased expression of downstream targets of NF-κB, nitric oxide synthase, and cyclooxygenase-2.

Our findings suggest that HFD-mediated oxidative stress and deregulation of NADPH oxidase leads to NF-κB activation in the prostrate.