Adrenic acid induces oxidative stress in hepatocytes

Adrenic acid (ADA), which is an endogenously synthesized polyunsaturated free fatty acid, was significantly increased in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients and NAFLD-model mice compared with the corresponding controls in our previous study. To elucidate the involvement of ADA in NAFLD and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), we examined ADA-induced lipotoxicity in human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells. The ROS production in HepG2 cells was increased by exposure to ADA. It was also shown that the treatment with ADA decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. The N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine pretreatment counteracted this ADA-induced ROS production and cell death. Furthermore, ADA modulated the expressions of SOD2, HO-1 and Gpx1 as antioxidant enzymes. These findings suggest that ADA could induce oxidative stress accompanied by cell death, providing new insights into lipotoxicity that is involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and NASH.