Chronic calcitriol supplementation improves the inflammatory profiles of circulating monocytes and the associated intestinal/adipose tissue alteration in a diet-induced steatohepatitis rat model

Vitamin D deficiency and up-regulated TNF alpha-related signals are reported to be involved in abnormalities including intestinal hyper-permeability, bacterial translocation, systemic/portal endotoxemia, intestinal/adipose tissue/hepatic inflammation, and hepatic steatosis in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). This study aims to explore the molecular mechanisms and effects of chronic calcitriol [1,25-(OH)(2)D-3, hormonal form of vitamin D] on gut-adipose tissue-liver axis abnormalities using a high-fat diet (HFD)-fed rat model of NASH. In HFD-fed obese rats on a 10-week calcitriol (0.3 pg/kg/TIW) or vehicle treatment (NASH-vit. D and NASH-V rats) reigme, various in vivo and in vitro experiments were undertaken. Through anti-INF alpha-TNFR1-NF kappa B signaling effects, chronic calcitriol treatment significantly restored plasma calcitriol levels and significantly improved vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression in monocytes and the small intestine of NASH-vit. D rats. Significantly, plasma and portal endotoxin/INF alpha levels, bacterial translocation to mesenteric lymph nodes, plasma DX4000-FITC, fecal albumin-assessed intestinal hyper-permeability, over-expression of TNF alpha-related immune profiles in monocytes, inflammation of intestinal/mesenteric adipose tissue (MAT)/liver and hepatic steatosis were improved by chronic calcitriol treatment of NASH rats. Additionally, in vitro experiments with acute calcitriol co-incubation reversed NASH-V rat monocyte supernatant/TNF alpha-induced monolayer barrier dysfunction in caco-2 cells, cytokine release from MAT-derived adipocytes, and triglyceride synthesis by lean-V rat hepatocytes. Using in vivo and in vitro experiments, our study reported calcitriol signaling in the gut as well as in adipose tissue. Meanwhile, our study suggests that restoration of systemic and intestinal vitamin D deficiency using by chronic vitamin D treatment effectively reduces TNF alpha-mediated immunological abnormalities associated with the gut-adipose tissue-liver axis and hepatic steatosis in NASH rats.