Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2025
A Murine Pancreatic Islet Cell-based Screening for Diabetogenic Environmental Chemicals
Published on: June 25, 2018
miR-18a-5p/PXR/SREBP2 Was Involved in MAFLD Associated With Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether Among Petrol Station Workers
Hanyun Wang1, Mingxiao Guo1, Fengtao Cui1,2
1Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Background:
Metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), previously defined as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), has been shown to be closely related to many environmental pollutants. Lately, we found methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a new environmental pollutant, could increase NAFLD risk in American adults, which still needs more population epidemiological studies to verify, and its pathogenic mechanism is not yet clear.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study among petrol station workers, diagnosed their MAFLD according to internationally recognised diagnostic criteria, assessed the potential association of MTBE exposure with MAFLD risk, and explored the miR-18a-5p/PXR/SREBP2 pathway as possible pathogenic mechanisms in male Wistar rats and HepaRG cells treated with MTBE.
Results:
Blood MTBE levels were found to be significantly correlated with an increased risk of MAFLD, and MAFLD risk increased by 24.3% for every 0.1 μg/L increase in blood MTBE. Consistently, we found that MTBE exposure could induce MAFLD in rats and HepaRG cells, and activate pregnane X receptor (PXR) by inhibiting miR-18a-5p to upregulate the expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2) and its nuclear translocation, thereby upregulating the expression of its downstream target genes.
Conclusions:
Our study demonstrated that MTBE exposure might be a significant risk factor for MAFLD, and MTBE could promote liver cholesterol synthesis and lipid deposition by activating the miRNA-18a-5p/PXR/SREBP2 pathway.
