Fenofibrate Alleviates Insulin Resistance and Hepatic Steatosis via Modulation of let-7/ SERCA2b Axis

Abstract Background: Fenofibrate is a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha agonist, which is widely used in clinical practice to effectively ameliorates the development of NAFLD. However, the molecular mechanism remains largely unknown, the present study aimed to investigate the role and specific mechanism of fenofibrate on lipid metabolism disorders associated diseases.Methods: The male C57BL6/J mice were divided into 3 groups, the mice in control group (n=10) were fed with normal chow diet, and the mice in HFD-fed group (n =10) were fed with a high fat diet (HFD) for 14 weeks. For the fenofibrate +HFD-fed group (n =10), the mice fed HFD were orally gavaged with fenofibrate (40 mg/kg) daily for the last 4 weeks. Body weight and hip width were measured. Macrosteatosis and fat deposition in the liver were measured by H&E staining and Oil red O staining individually. The levels of serum and hepatic triglyceride were measured, and HOMA-IR, HOMA-ISI were analyzed. The levels of SCD-1, Bip, CHOP and SERCA2b were measured by western blotting. The expression of let-7 were analyzed by qPCR, and the complementarity between the 3′-UTR of SERCA2b gene and let-7 was measured by luciferase reporter assay.Results: Fenofibrate reduces hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance in HFD-fed mice. Fnofibrate alleviates endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) of mice fed a high fat diet (HFD). Fenofibrate increases the levels of Sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase 2b (SERCA2b) which serves as a regulator of ER stress. Further, the levels of let-7 microRNA is also regulated by fenofibrate, and let-7 directly targets 3’-UTR of SERCA2b. Conclusion: The present data suggests that fenofibrate alleviates ER stress through the let-7/SERCA2b axis to protect against excessive lipid accumulation in the liver of Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) mice.