Mechanism Of Betaine On Liver Glucose And Lipid Metabolism

The liver is an important metabolic organ of the animal body and is the main site of endogenous fat production.It can not only use lipids to generate energy,but also secrete lipids in the form of very low density lipoprotein(VLDL).The concentration of triglyceride in the liver is an important indicator of lipid metabolism in animals.The abnormal deposition of triacylglyceride(TG)will seriously affect the health of animal organisms.Therefore,by exploring the expression of genes involved in fat synthesis and decomposition in the liver,and further elucidating the mechanism of liver lipid metabolism,it is of great significance for the study of animal fat metabolism and better serving animal husbandry.In this study,in order to study the effects of betaine on hepatic lipid metabolism and explore its underlying mechanism,a high-fat mouse model supplemented with betaine was constructed in vivo,and HepG2 cells were cultured in high-fat conditions in vitro.The betaine was cultured together,and the results showed that betaine inhibited fat accumulation in the liver.In addition,betaine is also found on cells to enhance mitochondrial content and activity,and involved in the regulation of lipid and energy metabolism.Gene expression analysis showed that betaine inhibits fatty acid synthesis and promotes fatty acid oxidation and lipid secretion.Betaine as a methyl donor can significantly increase the methylation(m6A)level of RNA,and this epigenetic modification may be the main pathway for betaine to function.In order to study the regulation mechanism of betaine,fat and obesity-associated genes(FTO,RNA demethylase)and their mutants(loss of demethylase activity)were used for intervention.The results showed that FTO blocked the ability of betaine to regulate lipid metabolism and mitochondrial content,but the FTO mutant did not affect the action of betaine,indicating that betaine is involved in fat deposition regulation through RNA methylation.This work links betaine treatment to mitochondrial activity and RNA methylation,explains the link between betaine and mitochondrial activity,and illustrates the underlying mechanism of action of betaine.In this study,the effect of betaine on hepatic glucose metabolism was also explored.It was found that betaine could significantly increase hepatocyte sugar uptake and reduce glucose production,but its underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated.