Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026
Development of an Ethanol-induced Fibrotic Liver Model in Zebrafish to Study Progenitor Cell-mediated Hepatocyte Regeneration
Published on: May 13, 2016
Activation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha ameliorates ethanol induced steatohepatitis in mice
Lingbo Kong1, Weiguang Ren, Wencong Li
1Department of Traditional and Western Medical Hepatology, Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Background:
Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha (PPARα) regulates lipids metabolism and inhibits inflammatory response. However, the role of PPARα in alcoholic liver disease is largely unknown. We aim to elucidate the effect and the molecular basis of PPARα in ethanol induced hepatic injury in mice.
Results:
C57BL/6J mice fed with 4% ethanol-containing Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet for 12 weeks exhibited hepatocyte steatosis, necrosis and inflammatory infiltration, accompanied with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartic transaminase (AST) levels, decreased hepatic expression of PPARα, lipids oxidation promoting genes and anti-inflammatory factors, as well as enhanced hepatic expression of fatty acids synthesis promoting genes and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Induction of PPARα by PPARα agonist WY14643 treatment for 2 weeks ameliorated the severity of liver injury and restored expression of genes altered by ethanol treatment. However, administration of PPARα antagonist GW6471 for 2 weeks promoted the inflammatory response.
Conclusions:
The present study provided the evidence for the protective role of PPARα in ameliorating ethanol induced liver injury through modulation of the genes related to lipid metabolism and inflammatory response.
