Integrated analysis of transcriptomics and metabonomics profiles in aflatoxin B1-induced hepatotoxicity in rat

The aim of this work was to identify mechanisms and potential biomarkers for predicting the development and progression of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-induced acute hepatotoxicity. In this study, microarray analysis and metabolites profiles were used to identify shifts in gene expression and metabolite levels associated with the affected physiological processes of rats treated with AFB1. Histopathological examinations and serum biochemical analysis were simultaneously performed; the results indicated that hepatotoxicity occurred in higher dosage groups. However, gene expression analysis and metabolite profiles are more sensitive than general toxicity studies for detecting AFB1-induced acute hepatotoxicity as the patterns of low-dose AFB1-treated rats in these two technique platforms were more similar to the rats in higher dosage groups than to the control rats. Integrated analysis of the results from general toxicity studies, transcriptomics and metabonomics profiles suggested that p53 signaling pathway induced by oxidative damage was the crucial step in AFB1-induced acute hepatotoxicity, whereas gluconeogenesis and lipid metabolism disorder were found to be the major metabolic effects after acute AFB1 exposure. The genes and metabolites significantly affected in common in rat liver or serum of three doses AFB1 treatments served as potential biomarkers for detecting AFB1-induced acute hepatotoxicity.