Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is in association with insulin resistance, obesity and Type 2 diabetes, is considered as the most common chronic liver disease worldwide. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the physiopathology of NAFLD.

Serine, a major antioxidant in vivo and involved in the synthesis of glutathione (GSH), plays a critical role in the central metabolism. In addition, according to the results of genome-scale metabolic modeling of hepatocytes, serine deficiency is concomitant with changes in metabolites involved in the interconversion of serine in patients with NAFLD.

These results raised the possibility that serine supplementation might have bene?cial effects in the protection of NAFLD.

Researchers in the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences(ISA) investigate the effects of serine supplementation on GSH synthesis and oxidative stress in high-fat diet-induced (HFD-induced) mouse model of NAFLD and its related mechanisms were explored.

The researchers found that supplementation with 1% serine in the water increased glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in HFD-treated mice.

In addition, serine supplementation also protected HFD-induced lipid accumulation and oxidative stress. These results were further evidenced by in vitro experiments using primary hepatocytes.

Furthermore, their results elucidated that serine epigenetically modulated the expression of glutathione synthesis-related genes and activated AMPK pathway, which are critical mechanisms involved.

"Our findings shed new lights for further use of serine in humans in the prevention of NAFLD” said ZHOU Xihong, a researcher in ISA.

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31702125).

The study entitled “Serine prevented high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress by activating AMPK and epigenetically modulating the expression of glutathione synthesis-related genes” has been published in Volume 1864, February 2018 of BBA-molecular basis of disease, details could be found at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925443917304313.

Contact: ZHOU Xihong

E-mail: xhzhou@isa.ac.cn

Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences