Liver-X-receptor activator prevents homocysteine-induced production of IgG antibodies from murine B lymphocytes via the ROS–NF-κB pathway

Our previous study showed that homosysteine (Hcy) promotes proliferation of mouse splenic B lymphocytes. In this study, we investigated whether Hcy could stimulate the production of IgG antibodies. Hcy significantly increased the production of IgG antibodies from resting B lymphocytes. B lymphocytes from ApoE-knockout mice with hyperhomocysteinemia showed elevated IgG secretion at either the basal Hcy level or in response to lipopolysaccharide. Hcy promoted reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, and free radical scavengers, MnTMPyP decreased Hcy-induced IgG secretion. The inhibitor of NF-κB (MG132) also significantly reduced Hcy-induced IgG secretion. Furthermore, Hcy-induced formation of ROS, activation of NF-κB, and secretion of IgG could be inhibited by the liver-X-receptor (LXR) agonist TO 901317. Thus, our data provide strong evidence that HHcy induces IgG production from murine splenic B lymphocytes both in vitro and in vivo. The mechanism might be through the ROS–NF-κB pathway and can be attenuated by the activation of LXR.