Generation of a glycogen storage disease mouse model with fatty liver and its treatment by PPAR-α agonist bezafibrate.

Background: Fatty liver is considered the pathological basis for the development of glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSDIa); however, due to the lack of suitable animal models, the mechanism underlying fatty liver development in GSDIa is largely unknown. Methods: This study employed surrogate breastfeeding to enable the survival of glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic ( Results: KO-6 and KO-9 mice exhibited typical fatty liver phenotypes, and upregulation of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). Moreover, both Western blot and qRT-PCR analysis showed significant upregulation of ChREBP, SREBP1 and fatty acid synthesis enzymes. RNA-seq heat maps revealed that KO-6 and KO-9 mice exhibited similar expression patterns, distinct from those observed in the wild-type (WT) and KO-3 groups. GO and KEGG analysis further revealed changes in lipid metabolism pathways in KO-6 and KO-9 mice, as well as PI3K-Akt, AMPK, and MAPK signaling. Western blot analysis showed that the Akt and mTOR pathways were activated, while the AMPK pathway was downregulated, indicating impaired autophagy. Finally, bezafibrate, a proliferator-activated receptor α (PPAR-α) agonist, enhanced autophagic activity and attenuated inflammatory responses, fat deposition, and glycogen storage in Conclusion: This study successfully generated a fatty liver model using