Effects of high fat/high cholesterol diet on differentially expressed gene of the liver in treble genes mutant mice

AIM: To study the effects of dietary factor on liver gene expression profile in apoE-/-/LDLR-/-/Leprdb/db mice and atherogenesis. METHODS: The gene expression profile was determined by using cDNA microarray. Total plasma TC and TG level were measured with COD-PAP and GPO-PAP methods respectively. The morphological characters of the aorta were also observed. RESULTS: Among the 4000 target genes, 78 and 114 genes were up-and down-regulated, respectively, in treble genes mutants fed with high fat high cholesterol diet compared with that of regular chow littermates, including lipid metabolism, carbohydrate, cell skeleton and immune related genes. Atherogenic diet induced severe plasma hyperlipidemia even in the early stage and also accelerated atherogenesis in the treble genes mutant mice. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that atherogenic diet aggravates abnormal plasma lipid metabolism and induces severe hyperlipidemia, and atherogenesis in the treble genes mutant mice as well.