Research Article Details

Article ID: A10115
PMID: 31477174
Source: Stem Cell Res Ther
Title: Antioxidant-upregulated mesenchymal stem cells reduce inflammation and improve fatty liver disease in diet-induced obesity.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: The incidence of obesity and diabetes is increasing rapidly. Optimal management is still elusive. Obesity associated with type 2 diabetes is known to cause adipose tissue inflammation, increase oxidative stress, and cause white fat hyperplasia and mitochondrial dysfunction. In this study, we investigated whether mitochondrial and cytosolic antioxidant-upregulated mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) delivery reduces oxidative stress and subsequently improves glucose tolerance, reduce systemic inflammation, and improves fatty liver disease in diet-induced obese (DIO) mouse models. METHODS: Antioxidant genes Sod2 (mitochondrial) and catalase (cytosolic) or null (control) were upregulated in human adipose tissue-derived MSCs using adenoviral constructs. Modified MSCs were then delivered intraperitoneally into mice that were fed a 45% or 60% high-fat diet (HFD), and animals were followed for 4&#8201;weeks. RESULTS: Over 4&#8201;weeks, body weight remained stable; however, we noted a significant reduction in liver fat content by histological analysis and liver triglyceride assay. Triglyceride assay (p&#8201;<&#8201;0.01) confirmed reduced liver fat accumulation in animals that received either Sod2- or Cat-MSCs. There was a lower plasma&#160;level of inflammatory marker TNF&#945;, measured in mice that were fed either 45% or 60% HFD and received Sod2- or Cat-MSCs, indicating reduced systemic inflammation. Ucp1 mRNA was upregulated approximately 100-1000-fold for omental fat and 10-100-fold for pericardial fat compared to the Null-MSC-receiving group. Pcgc1a and Prdm16 mRNA upregulation was also noted particularly for pericardial fat. Glucose tolerance showed a positive improvement trend with a lower area under the curve (AUC) values&#160;for both Sod2- and Cat-MSCs groups in comparison&#160;to control. For mice fed with 60% HFD and that received Sod2-MSCs, glucose levels were significantly lower than control (*p&#8201;<&#8201;0.05) at a time point of 60&#8201;min in the glycemic curve during glucose tolerance test. CONCLUSION: Reduction of oxidative stress post-antioxidant-upregulated MSC delivery, intraperitoneally, reduces systemic inflammation and fat accumulation in the liver. There is evidence of an increase in browning of white&#160;adipose tissue depots with concomitant improvement of glucose tolerance in a weight-independent fashion. Antioxidant-upregulated MSC delivery may be a safe yet effective therapy for obesity and prediabetes and improves related complication such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
DOI: 10.1186/s13287-019-1393-8