American Journal of Physiology - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology 2014-07-15

H1-antihistamines exacerbate high-fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis in wild-type but not in apolipoprotein E knockout mice.

Vineesh V Raveendran, Karen M Kassel, Donald D Smith, James P Luyendyk, Kurt J Williams, Rachel Cherian, Gregory A Reed, Colleen A Flynn, Iván L Csanaky, Andrew L Lickteig, Matthew J Pratt-Hyatt, Curtis D Klaassen, Kottarappat N Dileepan

Index: Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 307(2) , G219-28, (2014)

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Abstract

We examined the effects of two over-the-counter H1-antihistamines on the progression of fatty liver disease in male C57Bl/6 wild-type and apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-/- mice. Mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 3 mo, together with administration of either cetirizine (4 mg/kg body wt) or fexofenadine (40 mg/kg body wt) in drinking water. Antihistamine treatments increased body weight gain, gonadal fat deposition, liver weight, and hepatic steatosis in wild-type mice but not in ApoE-/- mice. Lobular inflammation, acute inflammation, and necrosis were not affected by H1-antihistamines in either genotype. Serum biomarkers of liver injury tended to increase in antihistamine-treated wild-type mice. Serum level of glucose was increased by fexofenadine, whereas lipase was increased by cetirizine. H1-antihistamines reduced the mRNA expression of ApoE and carbohydrate response element-binding protein in wild-type mice, without altering the mRNA expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c, fatty acid synthase, or ApoB100, in either genotype. Fexofenadine increased both triglycerides and cholesterol ester, whereas cetirizine increased only cholesterol ester in liver, with a concomitant decrease in serum triglycerides by both antihistamines in wild-type mice. Antihistamines increased hepatic levels of conjugated bile acids in wild-type mice, with the effect being significant in fexofenadine-treated animals. The increase was associated with changes in the expression of organic anion transport polypeptide 1b2 and bile salt export pump. These results suggest that H1-antihistamines increase the progression of fatty liver disease in wild-type mice, and there seems to be an association between the severity of disease, presence of ApoE, and increase in hepatic bile acid levels. Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.