Promoter DNA methylation of farnesoid X receptor and pregnane X receptor modulates the intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy phenotype.

The intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a multifactorial liver disorder which pathogenesis involves the interplay among abnormal bile acid (BA) levels, sex hormones, environmental factors, and genetic susceptibility. The dynamic nature of ICP that usually resolves soon after delivery suggests the possibility that its pathobiology is under epigenetic modulation. We explored the status of white blood peripheral cells-DNA methylation of CpG-enriched sites at the promoter of targeted genes (FXR/NR1H4, PXR/NR1I2, NR1I3, ESR1, and ABCC2) in a sample of 88 ICP patients and 173 healthy pregnant women in the third trimester of their pregnancies.

Maternal high-fat intake during pregnancy programs metabolic-syndrome-related phenotypes through liver mitochondrial DNA copy number and transcriptional activity of liver PPARGC1A.

Unlabelled: In this study, we contrasted the hypothesis that maternal diet during pregnancy has an impact on fetal metabolic programming through changes in liver mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content and transcriptional activity of Ppargc1a and that these effects are sex specific.

Methods: Rats were fed either high-fat (HFD) or standard chow diet (SCD) during gestation and lactation. The resulting adult male and female offspring were fed either HFD or SCD for an 18-week period, generating eight experimental groups.

Photochemical behavior of 6-methylpterin in aqueous solutions: generation of reactive oxygen species.

Pterins are a family of heterocyclic compounds present in a wide range of living systems that participate in relevant biological functions and are involved in different photobiological processes. 6-Methylpterin (MPT) was investigated for its efficiency of singlet-oxygen (1O2) production and quenching in aqueous solution. The quantum yields of 1O2 production (phi(delta)) was determined by measurements of the 1O2 luminescence in the near-infrared upon continuous excitation of the sensitizer.