Activation of α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Inhibits Hepatic Necroptosis and Ameliorates Acute Liver Injury in Mice

Acute liver injury is a disease characterized by severe liver dysfunction, caused by significant infiltration of immune cells and extensive cell death with a high mortality. Previous studies demonstrated that the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) played a crucial role in various liver diseases. The hypothesis of this study was that activating α7nAChR could alleviate acute liver injury and investigate its possible mechanisms.

Acute liver injury was induced by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/D-galactosamine (D-Gal) in wild type, α7nAChR knockout (α7nAChR^-/-) and stimulator of interferon gene (STING) mutation (Sting^gt/gt) mice in the presence or absence of a pharmacologic selective α7nAChR agonist (PNU-282987). The effects of α7nAChR on hepatic injury, inflammatory response, mitochondrial damage, necroptosis, and infiltration of immune cells during acute liver injury were assessed.

The expression of α7nAChR in liver tissue was increased in LPS/D-Gal–induced acute liver injury mice. Compared to the age-matched wild-type mice, α7nAChR deficiency decreased the survival rate, exacerbated the hepatic injury accompanied with enhanced inflammatory response and oxidative stress, and aggravated hepatic mitochondrial damage and necroptosis. Conversely, pharmacologic activation of α7nAChR by PNU-282987 displayed the opposite trends. Furthermore, PNU-282987 significantly reduced the proportion of infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages (CD45⁺CD11b^hiF4/80^int), M1 macrophages (CD45⁺CD11b⁺F4/80⁺CD86^hiCD163^low), and Ly6C^hi monocytes (CD45⁺CD11b⁺MHC [major histocompatibility complex] Ⅱ^lowLy6C^hi), but increased the resident Kupffer cells (CD45⁺CD11b^intF4/80^hiTIM4^hi) in the damaged hepatic tissues caused by LPS/D-Gal. Interestingly, α7nAChR deficiency promoted the STING signaling pathway under LPS/D-Gal stimulation, while PNU-282987 treatment significantly prevented its activation. Finally, it was found that Sting mutation abolished the protective effects against hepatic injury by activating α7nAChR.

The authors’ study revealed that activating α7nAChR could protect against LPS/D-Gal–induced acute liver injury by inhibiting hepatic inflammation and necroptosis possibly via regulating immune cells infiltration and inhibiting STING signaling pathway.