Nuclear Receptors, Energy Metabolism and Therapy of Metabolic Diseases
Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Chemistry
Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, UB
Juan Carlos Laguna Egea
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7082-0704
Tel +34 934024530
Marta Alegret Jordà
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5652-8651
Tel +34 934024531
Principal investigators: • Juan Carlos Laguna Egea • Marta Alegret Jordà
Researchers: • Núria Roglans Ribas • Laia Vilà Prats • Emma Barroso Fernández
PhD student: • Roger Bentanachs Raset • Yanhao Qiu • Jianing Zhou Wu
Current
Research
In the last decade, our research group has participated in the study of the metabolic effects and mechanisms involved in the continuous consumption of simple sugars (fructose and glucose). We have studied, both in animal models (Sprague-Dawley rats, LDL receptor-deficient mice) and in vitro systems (hepatoma cells, primary hepatocytes), the effect of isocaloric supplementation of fructose and glucose solutions on lipid and glucose metabolism at different times (from two weeks to eleven months) to reproduce the complete pattern of consumption of these sugars by human populations. We have studied metabolic changes in vascular tissue (atherosclerosis), visceral adipose tissue, hypothalamus (cognition) and skeletal muscle (insulin resistance), but mainly in liver tissue (MASLD), as the pharmacokinetic handling of fructose makes liver the direct target of fructose loading. Recently, our know-how of these dietary models of metabolic diseases and the molecular mechanisms involved, has allowed us to start the search for drug candidates to prevent/treat MASLD, using a repurposing-based strategy. After a period in which we have focused on the early phases of this disease (simple steatosis), in our current project we aim to study more advanced stages of MASLD, with inflammation and liver fibrosis.
Figure from: Velázquez et al., Biomedicines. 2022 Jun 27;10(7):1517.
Selected
Publications
Bentanachs R, Miró L, Sánchez RM, Ramírez-Carrasco P, Amat C, Alegret M, Pérez A, Roglans N, Laguna JC. Pemafibrate abrogates SLD in a rat experimental dietary model, inducing a shift in fecal bile acids and microbiota composition. Biomed Pharmacother. 2024 Aug;177:117067. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.117067.
Bentanachs R, Blanco L, Montesinos M, Sala-Vila A, Lázaro I, Rodríguez-Morató J, Sánchez RM, Laguna JC, Roglans N, Alegret M. Adipose Tissue Protects against Hepatic Steatosis in Male Rats Fed a High-Fat Diet plus Liquid Fructose: Sex-Related Differences. Nutrients. 2023 Sep 8;15(18):3909. doi: 10.3390/nu15183909.
Roglans N, Laguna JC, Alegret M. Bempedoic acid for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: evidence and mechanisms of action. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2023 Aug 1;34(4):141-146. doi: 10.1097/MOL.0000000000000878.
Velázquez AM, Bentanachs R, Sala-Vila A, Lázaro I, Rodríguez-Morató J, Sánchez RM, Laguna JC, Roglans N, Alegret M. KHK, PNPLA3 and PPAR as Novel Targets for the Anti-Steatotic Action of Bempedoic Acid. Biomedicines. 2022 Jun 27;10(7):1517. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10071517.
Velázquez AM, Bentanachs R, Sala-Vila A, Lázaro I, Rodríguez-Morató J, Sánchez RM, Alegret M, Roglans N, Laguna JC. ChREBP-driven DNL and PNPLA3 Expression Induced by Liquid Fructose are Essential in the Production of Fatty Liver and Hypertriglyceridemia in a High-Fat Diet-Fed Rat Model. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2022 Apr;66(7):e2101115. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.202101115.
Selected
Publications
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Author
Identification
Bentanachs R, Miró L, Sánchez RM, Ramírez-Carrasco P, Amat C, Alegret M, Pérez A, Roglans N, Laguna JC. Pemafibrate abrogates SLD in a rat experimental dietary model, inducing a shift in fecal bile acids and microbiota composition. Biomed Pharmacother. 2024 Aug;177:117067. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.117067.
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