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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #262866
Title: Citrus flavonoids repress the mRNA for stearoyl-CoA desaturase, a key enzyme in lipid synthesis and obesity control, in rat primary hepatocytes

Author
item NICHOLS, LANITA - University Of Missouri
item JACKSON, DANIEL - University Of Missouri
item Manthey, John
item SHUKLA, SHIVENDRA - University Of Missouri
item HOLLAND, LENÉ - University Of Missouri

Submitted to: Lipids in Health and Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/23/2011
Publication Date: 2/23/2011
Citation: Nichols, L.A., Jackson, D.E., Manthey, J.A., Shukla, S.D., Holland, L.J. 2011. Citrus flavonoids repress the mRNA for stearoyl-CoA desaturase, a key enzyme in lipid synthesis and obesity control, in rat primary hepatocytes. Lipids in Health and Disease. 10:36.

Interpretive Summary: Two classes of flavonoids in citrus are shown to inhibit the gene expression of an enzyme that is important to lipid production in liver cells. This may help explain the lipid lowering effects of these compounds in animals.

Technical Abstract: Citrus flavonoids have been shown to decrease plasma lipid levels, improve glucose tolerance, and attenuate obesity. One possible mechanism underlying these physiological effects is reduction of hepatic levels of the mRNA for stearoyl CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1), since repression of this enzyme reduces hyperlipidemia and adiposity. Here, we show that citrus flavonoids of two structural classes reduce SCD1 mRNA concentrations in a dose-dependent manner in rat primary hepatocytes. This is the first demonstration of repression of SCD1 by citrus flavonoids, either in vivo or in cultured cells. Furthermore, it is the first use of freshly-isolated hepatocytes from any animal to examine citrus flavonoid action at the mRNA level. This study demonstrates that regulation of SCD1 gene expression may play a role in control of obesity by citrus flavonoids and that rat primary hepatocytes are a physiologically-relevant model system for analyzing the molecular mechanisms of flavonoid action in the liver.