Moderate body lipid accumulation in mice attenuated benzene-induced hematotoxicity via acceleration of benzene metabolism and clearance

• DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108113
• Publication Date: 2023-07-22T06:59:39Z
• Authors: Lizhu Ye; Xinhang Jiang; Liping Chen; Shen Chen; Huiyao Li; Rui Du; Wei You; Jing Peng; Ping Guo; Rui Zhang; Hongyao Yu; Guanghui Dong; Daochuan Li; Xue Li; Wen Chen; Xiumei Xing; Yongmei Xiao
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Benzene metabolism; Lipid deposition; Acceleration; Benzene; Exhaled breath; Lipid Metabolism; Lipids; Environmental sciences; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; High-fat diet; Hematotoxicity; Leukocytes; Animals; GE1-350

Recent population and animal studies have revealed a correlation between fat content and the severity of benzene-induced hematologic toxicity. However, the precise impact of lipid deposition on benzene-induced hematotoxicity and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we established a mouse model with moderate lipid accumulation by subjecting the mice to an 8-week high-fat diet (45% kcal from fat, HFD), followed by 28-day inhalation of benzene at doses of 0, 1, 10, and 100 ppm. The results showed that benzene exposure caused a dose-dependent reduction of peripheral white blood cell (WBC) counts in both diet groups. Notably, this reduction was less pronounced in the HFD-fed mice, suggesting that moderate lipid accumulation mitigates benzene-related hematotoxicity. To investigate the molecular basis for this effect, we performed bioinformatics analysis of high-throughput transcriptome sequencing data, which revealed that moderate lipid deposition alters mouse metabolism and stress tolerance towards xenobiotics. Consistently, the expression of key metabolic enzymes, such as Cyp2e1 and Gsta1, were upregulated in the HFD-fed mice upon benzene exposure. Furthermore, we utilized a real-time exhaled breath detection technique to monitor exhaled benzene metabolites, and the results indicated that moderate lipid deposition enhanced metabolic activation and increased the elimination of benzene metabolites. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that moderate lipid deposition confers reduced susceptibility to benzene-induced hematotoxicity in mice, at least in part, by accelerating benzene metabolism and clearance.