Apolipoprotein D Transgenic Mice Develop Hepatic Steatosis through Activation of PPAR? and Fatty Acid Uptake

Labrie, Marilyne; Lalonde, Simon; Najyb, Ouafa; Thiery, Maxime; Daneault, Caroline; Des Rosiers, Chrisitne; Rassart, Eric; Mounier, Catherine

In the present study, we showed that increased expression of H-apoD in the liver activates the nuclear receptor PPARγ, leading to hepatic fat accumulation at one year of age. The development of hepatic steatosis is probably not a consequence of age-dependent insulin resistance as the increased hepatic PPARγ expression is observed as early as 3 months of age in Tg animals (data not shown). Despite an increase in hepatic FA uptake in Tg mice, no differences were detected in the plasmatic levels of FA and TG. As such, our hypothesis is that the increase in FA uptake is probably a slow process that does not allow the detection of differences in the plasmatic levels of FA and TG.