Jung Wookjae, Kim Min Hye, Yang Jung Wook, Kim Dong Chul, Lee Jong Sil, Lee Jeong-Hee, An Hyo Jung, Song Dae Hyun
Department of Pathology, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Republic of Korea.
Department of Pathology, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju, Republic of Korea.
In Vivo. 2025 Mar-Apr;39(2):749-757. doi: 10.21873/invivo.13879.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a serious global public health concern. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as key contributors to MASLD pathogenesis. Zebrafish can be utilized to study the relationship between MASLD and lncRNAs because of their similarity to human genes. Oil Red O staining is a traditional method for confirming liver fatty changes; however, it has several limitations. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) in detecting fatty changes in the liver.
Liver tissues were collected from 30 zebrafish that were fed a BODIPY-containing high-cholesterol diet. Oil Red O and BODIPY staining were evaluated by two pathologists, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed using liver tissues categorized into high fatty change (six liver tissues) and low fatty change (six liver tissues) groups.
BODIPY and Oil Red O staining of zebrafish liver sections correlated significantly (=0.009). NGS identified eight differentially expressed lncRNAs with over a 10-fold difference between the high- and low-fatty acid change groups. Of these, three showed lncRNA-mRNA interaction networks linked to human disorders.
BODIPY staining is a reliable alternative to Oil Red O staining for assessing fatty changes in MASLD zebrafish models, particularly when examining frozen liver sections.
背景/目的：代谢功能障碍相关脂肪性肝病（MASLD）是一个严重的全球公共卫生问题。长链非编码RNA（lncRNAs）已被确定为MASLD发病机制的关键因素。由于斑马鱼与人类基因相似，可用于研究MASLD与lncRNAs之间的关系。油红O染色是确认肝脏脂肪变化的传统方法；然而，它有几个局限性。本研究旨在评估硼二吡咯亚甲基（BODIPY）检测肝脏脂肪变化的效果。
从30只喂食含BODIPY高胆固醇饮食的斑马鱼中收集肝脏组织。由两位病理学家评估油红O和BODIPY染色，并对分为高脂肪变化组（六个肝脏组织）和低脂肪变化组（六个肝脏组织）的肝脏组织进行二代测序（NGS）。
斑马鱼肝脏切片的BODIPY和油红O染色显著相关（=0.009）。NGS鉴定出八个差异表达的lncRNAs，在高脂肪酸变化组和低脂肪酸变化组之间有超过10倍的差异。其中，三个显示出与人类疾病相关的lncRNA-mRNA相互作用网络。
对于评估MASLD斑马鱼模型中的脂肪变化，BODIPY染色是油红O染色的可靠替代方法，特别是在检查冷冻肝脏切片时。
