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Effect of Copper Exposure on the Cholesterol Metabolism in Broiler Liver

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Abstract

Copper (Cu) is a kind of widely used dietary supplement in poultry production, and a common environmental pollutant at the same time. Excess Cu exposure has been reported to accumulate in the liver and induce cytotoxicity, but the effect of Cu toxicity on hepatic cholesterol metabolism is still uncertain. Herein, we aimed to reveal the effect of excess Cu on the liver and primary hepatocytes of broilers at various concentrations. We found that 110 mg/kg Cu supplement remarkably increased blood cholesterol levels by detecting serum TC, LDL-C, and HDL-C in the broilers, while there was no significant difference in 220 and 330 mg/kg Cu supplements. In addition, high Cu exposure resulted in severe hepatic steatosis and hepatic cord derangement in the broilers. Oil red O staining of primary hepatocytes showed that Cu treatment caused intracellular neutral lipid accumulation. However, the hepatic TC content indicated a downward trend in both liver tissues and hepatocytes after Cu exposure. Furthermore, the expression of cholesterol metabolism-related indicators (SREBP2, HMGCR, LDLR, and CYP7A1) was notably decreased in the Cu-treated groups. While the expression of the key enzyme of cholesterol esterification (ACAT2) did not change significantly. Taken together, our findings preliminarily revealed excess Cu-induced hepatic cholesterol metabolism dysfunction, providing a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms of Cu-induced hepatotoxicity.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32072930) and National Key R & D Program of China (No. 2016YFD0501205 and No. 2017YFD0502200).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Yihui Huo, Feiyang Ma, Lei Li, Yuanxu Li, Gaolong Zhong, Jianzhao Liao, Qingyue Han, Ying Li, Jiaqiang Pan, Lianmei Hu, Hui Zhang, Jianying Guo & Zhaoxin Tang

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Contributions

Yihui Huo: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, visualization, writing—original draft. Feiyang Ma: data curation, formal analysis, investigation, writing—review and editing. Lei Li: conceptualization, methodology. Yuanxu Li: data curation, formal analysis, investigation, writing—review and editing. Gaolong Zhong: investigation, writing—review and editing. Jianzhao Liao: data curation, formal analysis, investigation. Qingyue Han: methodology, formal analysis, investigation. Ying Li: writing—review and editing. Jiaqiang Pan: resources. Lianmei Hu: methodology. Hui Zhang: methodology, formal analysis. Jianying Guo: writing—review and editing. Zhaoxin Tang: conceptualization, methodology, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.

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Huo, Y., Ma, F., Li, L. et al. Effect of Copper Exposure on the Cholesterol Metabolism in Broiler Liver. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 5747–5755 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03609-z

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