Effects of ovulen-50, diethylnitrosamine and phenobarbital on liver regeneration in female rats

Constitutive androstane receptor-mediated changes in bile acid composition contributes to hepatoprotection from lithocholic acid-induced liver injury in mice

Pharmacological activation of the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) protects the liver during cholestasis. The current study evaluates how activation of CAR influences genes involved in bile acid biosynthesis as a mechanism of hepatoprotection during bile acid-induced liver injury. CAR activators phenobarbital (PB) and 1,4-bis[2-(3,5-dichloropyridyloxy)]benzene (TCPOBOP) or corn oil (CO) were administered to C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) and CAR knockout (CAR-null) mice before and during induction of intrahepatic cholestasis using the secondary bile acid, lithocholic acid (LCA). In LCA-treated WT and all the CAR-null groups (excluding controls), histology revealed severe multifocal necrosis. This pathology was absent in WT mice pretreated with PB and TCPOBOP, indicating CAR-dependent hepatoprotection. Decreases in total hepatic bile acids and hepatic monohydroxy, dihydroxy, and trihydroxy bile acids in PB- and TCPOBOP-pretreated WT mice correlated with hepatoprotection. In comparison, concentrations of monohydroxylated and dihydroxylated bile acids were increased in all the treated CAR-null mice compared with CO controls. Along with several other enzymes (Cyp7b1, Cyp27a1, Cyp39a1), Cyp8b1 expression was increased in hepatoprotected mice, which could be suggestive of a shift in the bile acid biosynthesis pathway toward the formation of less toxic bile acids. In CAR-null mice, these changes in gene expression were not different among treatment groups. These results suggest CAR mediates a shift in bile acid biosynthesis toward the formation of less toxic bile acids, as well as a decrease in hepatic bile acid concentrations. We propose that these combined CAR-mediated effects may contribute to the hepatoprotection observed during LCA-induced liver injury.

Decreased apoptosis during CAR-mediated hepatoprotection against lithocholic acid-induced liver injury in mice

Myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1) is an anti-apoptotic protein that is regulated by the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR). Activation of CAR can protect the liver against bile acid-induced toxicity and it may have a role in cell death via apoptosis by altering expression of Bcl-2 family proteins such as myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1). Our aim was to determine if activation of CAR reduces hepatocellular apoptosis during cholestasis as a mechanism of hepatoprotection. CAR(+/+) (WT) and CAR(-/-) (CAR-null) mice were pre-treated with compounds known to activate CAR prior to induction of intrahepatic cholestasis using the secondary bile acid lithocholic acid (LCA). Pre-treatment with the CAR activators phenobarbital (PB) and TCPOBOP (TC), as well as the non-CAR activator pregnenolone 16alpha-carbontrile (PCN), protected against LCA-induced liver injury in WT mice, whereas liver injury was more extensive without CAR (CAR-null). Unexpectedly, expression of anti-apoptotic Mcl-1 and Bcl-x(L) was not increased in hepatoprotected mice. Compared to unprotected groups, apoptosis was decreased in hepatoprotected mice as evidenced by the absence of cleaved caspase 3 (cCasp3). In contrast to the cytoplasmic localization in the injured livers (LCA and oltipraz), Mcl-1 protein was localized in the nucleus of hepatoprotected livers to potentially promote cell survival. This study demonstrates that although apoptosis is reduced in hepatoprotected mice pre-treated with CAR and non-CAR activators; hepatoprotection is not directly a result of CAR-induced Mcl-1 expression.