Department of Integrated Biological Science, College of Natural Science, Pusan National University, Pusan, 46241, Republic of Korea.
Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Science, Pusan National University, Pusan, 46241, Republic of Korea.
Nat Commun. 2022 Jan 31;13(1):578. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28138-6.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an important health concern worldwide and progresses into nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Although prevalence and severity of NAFLD/NASH are higher in men than premenopausal women, it remains unclear how sex affects NAFLD/NASH pathophysiology. Formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2) modulates inflammatory responses in several organs; however, its role in the liver is unknown. Here we show that FPR2 mediates sex-specific responses to diet-induced NAFLD/NASH. NASH-like liver injury was induced in both sexes during choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined, high-fat diet (CDAHFD) feeding, but compared with females, male mice had more severe hepatic damage. Fpr2 was more highly expressed in hepatocytes and healthy livers from females than males, and FPR2 deletion exacerbated liver damage in CDAHFD-fed female mice. Estradiol induced Fpr2 expression, which protected hepatocytes and the liver from damage. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that FPR2 mediates sex-specific responses to diet-induced NAFLD/NASH, suggesting a novel therapeutic target for NAFLD/NASH.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病(NAFLD)是全球范围内一个重要的健康关注点,可进展为非酒精性脂肪性肝炎(NASH)。尽管男性的 NAFLD/NASH 患病率和严重程度高于绝经前女性,但性别如何影响 NAFLD/NASH 病理生理学仍不清楚。甲酰肽受体 2(FPR2)调节多个器官的炎症反应;然而,其在肝脏中的作用尚不清楚。在这里,我们显示 FPR2 介导了饮食诱导的 NAFLD/NASH 的性别特异性反应。在胆碱缺乏、L-氨基酸定义的高脂肪饮食(CDAHFD)喂养期间,男女均诱导出 NASH 样肝损伤,但与女性相比,雄性小鼠的肝损伤更严重。Fpr2 在雌性而非雄性的肝细胞和健康肝脏中的表达更高,FPR2 缺失加剧了 CDAHFD 喂养的雌性小鼠的肝损伤。雌二醇诱导 Fpr2 表达,从而保护肝细胞和肝脏免受损伤。总之,我们的结果表明,FPR2 介导了饮食诱导的 NAFLD/NASH 的性别特异性反应,这为 NAFLD/NASH 提供了一个新的治疗靶点。