Effects of Bile Acids on Adipogenesis

Abstract

Bile acids (BA) are important agents for intestinal digestion of
lipids and have also been identified as signaling molecules used
to maintain metabolic homeostasis. Loss of nuclear receptors
Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) and Small Heterodimer Partner
(SHP), which negatively regulate BA, exhibited reduced body
weight compared to wild type mice, even when placed on a high
fat diet. Subsequently, high serum levels of bile acids and reduced
white adipose tissue are observed in the double knockout
(DKO) mice. In order to determine the role bile acids play in this
beneficial phenotype, we examined BA effect on fat cell accumulation
using the NIH-3t3 L1 cells. In differentiated adipocytes we
observe a decrease in lipid droplet size, a marker of fat accumulation,
in correlation with increasing amounts of bile acid treatments.
This suggests that bile acids may have a protective effect
against fat accumulation, which looks promising to treat obesity.