Project description:Metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), the inflammatory stage of MASLD, will soon be one of the primary causes of liver-related complications, including advanced fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Its steady increase in both the US and the global population is devastating. Between the two genders, more women are suffering from MASH compared to the man due to estrogen deficiency caused by polycystic ovary syndrome or menopause. Our published data shows a clear positive association between the progression of liver disease and the expression of novel hexokinase HKDC1 in the liver. Targeting HKDC1, which is highly expressed in pathological hepatocytes (in MASH) but negligible in normal hepatocytes, represents a highly selective approach. Therefore, we hypothesized that liver-specific deletion of HKDC1 will protect against diet-induced obesity and the progression of MASH to fibrosis. We used an early-onset liver knockout (LKO) of HKDC1 by crossing HKDC1 floxed mice with Albumin Cre mice to test our hypothesis. We fed the Western Diet to HKDC1LKO female mice along with HKDC1 floxed mice (HKDC1fl/fl; as Controls) for 28 weeks. Our data shows that HKDC1 deletion significantly decreases body weight and fat mass compared to HKDC1fl/fl mice with no changes in food intake and energy expenditure. Knockout mice have better glucose tolerance and lower fasting glucose levels than HKDC1fl/fl mice. Our data also shows that the knockout group has smaller livers, healthier liver parameters, less steatosis, and lower NAS and fibrosis scores. Furthermore, HKDC1 knockout alters hepatic gene expression, and we found significantly low proinflammatory and profibrogenic gene expression in the LKO mice. Although we did not see any changes in triglyceride levels, there was a significant reduction of serum cholesterol concomitant with enhanced expression of cholesterol metabolism genes in the knockout group. Our data suggest a promising protective role of HKDC1 deletion against diet-induced obesity and MASH mice.

Project description:Background & Aims Obesity is a major risk factor for metabolic associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) which can progress from metabolic associated steatotic liver (MASL) to metabolic associated steatohepatitis (MASH). There are currently no effective and validated screening tools to stratify obese patients with a greater risk for MASH, independent of liver fibrosis, at a population level. We aimed to characterise the highly abundant and small protein plasma proteomes of worsening MASLD and overlay the liver-secreted proteome to generate a predictive model to stratify patients with and without MASH. Methods Venous blood and liver wedge biopsies were taken from 160 patients undergoing bariatric surgery. MASLD severity was assessed histologically. Liver biopsies from a subset of 96 patients were precision-cut and cultured to assess liver-secreted proteins. Proteomic analysis was performed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry on the plasma and the incubation medium cutoff the liver slices. Results Current non-invasive scores failed to stratify MASH in our cohort. The top200 plasma proteome exhibited mild changes in patients with MASH compared to those with No pathology, while the SPEA approach identified substantial differences in plasma proteins of patients with MASH compared to those without MASH. Liver-secreted proteins were remodelled in MASH compared to MASL and individuals with No pathology. There were no significant changes in the liver-secreted proteins and plasma proteome when comparing MASL to those with No pathology. The APASHA model, comprised of APOF, PCSK9, AFM, and S100A6, HbA1c % and AZGP1 stratified MASH in the discovery (AUROC: 0.887, p<0.0001) and validation cohorts (AUROC:0.7673, p=0.0002) and outcompeted other non-invasive scores. Conclusions These proteomic investigations provide a detailed description of liver-secreted and plasma proteome with worsening MASLD. MASH remodels plasma and liver-secreted proteins. Plasma proteomics generated the APASHA model validated in two Australian bariatric cohorts. Further investigation is warranted to interrogate the utility of the APASHA model as a non-invasive risk prediction model in additional cohorts. Lay Summary: Metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a more advanced form of metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), alters the levels of many proteins secreted by the liver and in the blood and those. The APASHA model, which is based on proteins that change in the blood or are secreted by the liver in cases of MASH, could potentially be developed into a simple blood test to predict MASH in high-risk groups.

Project description:Background & Aims Obesity is a major risk factor for metabolic associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) which can progress from metabolic associated steatotic liver (MASL) to metabolic associated steatohepatitis (MASH). There are currently no effective and validated screening tools to stratify obese patients with a greater risk for MASH, independent of liver fibrosis, at a population level. We aimed to characterise the highly abundant and small protein plasma proteomes of worsening MASLD and overlay the liver-secreted proteome to generate a predictive model to stratify patients with and without MASH. Methods Venous blood and liver wedge biopsies were taken from 160 patients undergoing bariatric surgery. MASLD severity was assessed histologically. Liver biopsies from a subset of 96 patients were precision-cut and cultured to assess liver-secreted proteins. Proteomic analysis was performed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry on the plasma and the incubation medium cutoff the liver slices. Results Current non-invasive scores failed to stratify MASH in our cohort. The top200 plasma proteome exhibited mild changes in patients with MASH compared to those with No pathology, while the SPEA approach identified substantial differences in plasma proteins of patients with MASH compared to those without MASH. Liver-secreted proteins were remodelled in MASH compared to MASL and individuals with No pathology. There were no significant changes in the liver-secreted proteins and plasma proteome when comparing MASL to those with No pathology. The APASHA model, comprised of APOF, PCSK9, AFM, and S100A6, HbA1c % and AZGP1 stratified MASH in the discovery (AUROC: 0.887, p<0.0001) and validation cohorts (AUROC:0.7673, p=0.0002) and outcompeted other non-invasive scores. Conclusions These proteomic investigations provide a detailed description of liver-secreted and plasma proteome with worsening MASLD. MASH remodels plasma and liver-secreted proteins. Plasma proteomics generated the APASHA model validated in two Australian bariatric cohorts. Further investigation is warranted to interrogate the utility of the APASHA model as a non-invasive risk prediction model in additional cohorts.

Dataset Information

Humanized Monoacylglycerol Acyltransferase 2 mice Become Obese and develop Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease when fed a High Fat Diet

Dataset's files

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets