Tilianin improves lipid profile and alleviates atherosclerosis in ApoE-/-mice through up-regulation of SREBP2-mediated LDLR expression

Background: The huge global burden of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) represents an urgent unmet need for the development of novel therapeutics. Dracocephalum moldavica L. has been used as a traditional Uygur medicine to treat various CVDs for centuries. Tilianin is a major flavonoid component of D. moldavica L. and has potential for preventing atherosclerosis. However, the molecular mechanisms that tilianin attenuate atherosclerosis are far from fully understood. Purposes: The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency and underlying mechanisms of tilianin in controlling lipid profile and preventing atherogenesis. Methods: The lipid-lowering effect of tilianin was evaluated in C57BL/6 and ApoE(-/-) mice by systematically determining serum biochemical parameters. The effects of tilianin on the atherosclerotic lesion were observed in aortic roots and whole aortas of ApoE(-/-) mice with oil red O staining. Caecal content from ApoE(-/-) mice were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis to assess the structure of the gut microbiota. The inhibition of hepatosteatosis was verified by histological examination, and a liver transcriptome analysis was performed to elucidate the tilianin-induced hepatic transcriptional alterations. Effects of tilianin on the expression and function of LDLR were examined in HepG2 cells and ApoE(-/-) mice. Further mechanisms underlying the efficacy of tilianin were investigated in HepG2 cells. Results: Tilianin treatment improved lipid profiles in C57BL/6 and dyslipidemic ApoE(-/-) mice, especially reducing the serum LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) level. Significant reductions of atherosclerotic lesion area and hepatosteatosis were observed in tilianin-treated ApoE-/- mice. The altered gut microbial composition in tilianin groups was associated with lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis. The liver transcriptome revealed that tilianin regulated the transcription of lipid metabolism-related genes. Then both in vitro and in vivo analyses revealed the potent effect of tilianin to enhance hepatic LDLR expression and its mediated LDL-C uptake. Further studies confirmed a critical role of SREBP2 in hepatic LDLR up-regulation by tilianin via increasing precursor and thus mature nuclear SREBP2 level. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the lipid-lowering effect of tilianin through SREBP2-mediated transcrip-tional activation of LDLR. Our findings reveal a novel anti-atherosclerotic mechanism of tilianin and underlie its potential clinical use in modulating CVDs with good availability and affordability.