Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2016, 61(4):177-185 | DOI: 10.17221/8849-CJAS

Long-term administration of DHEA prevents fat deposition in rats fed a high-fat dietOriginal Paper

D. Chen, J. Kang, L. Li, H. Ma

Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, P.R. China

The effects of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on lipid metabolism and lipogenic gene mRNA expression in rats subjected to a high-fat diet were determined. Totally 75 rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: control group 1 fed a normal diet (NCG), and groups 2-5 fed a high-fat diet with 0 (HCG), 25 (HLG), 50 (HMG), 100 (HHG) mg DHEA per kg body weight via gavage once a day for 8 weeks, respectively. DHEA significantly decreased body weight in HMG group as compared with HCG group (P < 0.05). Hepatic triglyceride and total cholesterol contents were decreased in HMG and HHG groups (P < 0.05), and hepatic lipase activity in HMG group was higher (P < 0.01) than in HCG group. Fatty acid synthesis (FAS) mRNA level was decreased in HLG and HHG groups (P < 0.01), and sterol response element binding protein-1 (SREBP-1) mRNA level was decreased in HMG and HHG groups when compared with HCG group (P < 0.01). Acyl-CoA oxidase (ACO) and liver carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (LCPT-1) mRNA abundance was decreased in HLG and HHG groups (P < 0.01), whereas hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) mRNA level was increased in HMG group as compared with HCG group (P < 0.05). These results indicated that long-term administration of DHEA reduced the synthesis of endogenous triglycerides by inhibiting SREBP-1 and FAS expression, and augmented the lipolysis of exogenous triglycerides through enhancing HSL expression, which eventually led to reduced fat deposition in rats fed a high-fat diet.

Keywords: dehydroepiandrosterone; lipid metabolism; lipogenic gene expression

Published: April 30, 2016  Show citation