Early-Life Exposure to Low-Dose Cadmium Accelerates Diethylnitrosamine and Diet-Induced Liver Cancer

Figure 8

Hepatic lipid accumulation and potential mechanistic illustration. Oil Red O staining of the peritumor liver tissue (a) and the positive area quantitative analysis (b). Panel (c) shows the difference in lipid droplet sizes between Con-Can and Cd-Can groups. The triglyceride (d) and malondialdehyde levels (e) of the peritumor liver tissue in each group were evaluated. Quantitative data are expressed as , -7. Panel (f) is the illustration of free fatty acid metabolism alteration of peritumor liver tissue. Increased CD36 expression mediates the free fatty acid uptake in Con-Can and Cd-Can groups, especially in the Cd-Can groups. The β-oxidation in mitochondria and formation of esterified triglyceride are the major disposal mechanism of fatty acid, and these were decreased in the Cd-Can group compared with the Con-Can group. Increased uptake and decreased disposal result in the increase of hepatocyte free fatty acid flux, which mediated the lipotoxicity, followed by carcinogen; red arrow, Cd-Can vs. Con-Can. The scale bar represents 100 μm. , , and , Con-Can vs. control; ^# and ^##, Cd-Can vs. Con-Can. CD36: cluster of differentiation 36; SEM: standard error of the mean.

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