Acetaminophen-induced liver injury is attenuated in transgenic fat-1 mice endogenously synthesizing long-chain n-3 fatty acids

Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose-induced hepatotoxicity is the most commonly cause of drug-induced liver failure characterized by oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and cell damage. Therapeutic efficacy of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) in several models of liver disease is well documented. However, the impacts of n-3 PUFA on APAP hepatotoxicity are not adequately addressed. In this study, the fat-1 transgenic mice that synthesize endogenous n-3 PUFA and wild type (WT) littermates were injected intraperitoneally with APAP at the dose of 400 mg/kg to induce liver injury, and euthanized at 0h, 2h, 4h and 6h post APAP injection for sampling. APAP overdose caused severe liver injury in WT mice as indicated by serum parameters, histopathological changes and hepatocyte apoptosis, which were remarkably ameliorated in fat-1 mice. These pro tective effects of n-3 PUFA were associated with regulation of the prolonged JNK activation via inhibition of apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASKl)/mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (MKK4) pathway. Additionally, the augment of endogenous n-3 PUFA reduced nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) - mediated in flammation response induced by APAP treatment in the liver. These findings indicate that n-3 PUFA has potent protective effects against APAP-induced acute liver injury, suggesting that n-3 dietary supplement with n-3 PUFA may be a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of hepatotoxicity induced by APAP overdose.