SREBP-1c overactivates ROS-mediated hepatic NF-κB inflammatory pathway in dairy cows with fatty liver

Dairy cows with fatty liver are characterized by hepatic lipid accumulation and a severe inflammatory response. Sterol receptor element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) are components of the main pathways for controlling triglyceride (TG) accumulation and inflammatory levels, respectively. A previous study demonstrated that hepatic inflammatory levels are positively correlated with hepatic TG content. We therefore speculated that SREBP-1c might play an important role in the overactivation of the hepatic NF-κB inflammatory pathway in cows with fatty liver. Compared with healthy cows, cows with fatty liver exhibited severe hepatic injury and high blood concentrations of the inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β. Hepatic SREBP-1c-mediated lipid synthesis and the NF-κB inflammatory pathway were both overinduced in cows with fatty liver. In vitro, treatment with non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) further increased SREBP-1c expression and NF-κB pathway activation, which then promoted TG and inflammatory cytokine synthesis. SREBP-1c overexpression overactivated the NF-κB inflammatory pathway in hepatocytes by increasing ROS content and not through TLR4. Furthermore, SREBP-1c silencing decreased ROS content and further attenuated the activation of the NEFA-induced NF-κB pathway, thereby decreasing TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β synthesis. SREBP-1c-overexpressing mice exhibited hepatic steatosis and an overinduced hepatic NF-κB pathway. Taken together, these results indicate that SREBP-1c enhances the NEFA-induced overactivation of the NF-κB inflammatory pathway by increasing ROS in cow hepatocytes, thereby further increasing hepatic inflammatory injury in cows with fatty liver.