Propylene glycol guluronate sulfate (PGGS) reduces lipid accumulation via AMP-activated kinase activation in palmitate-induced HepG2 cells

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the No. 1 cause of death worldwide. Hyperlipidemia is one of the major risk factors for CVD. Maintaining lipid homeostasis is an effective way to prevent CVD. We prepared propylene glycol guluronate sulfate (PGGS), a sulfated polysaccharide, and investigated its effect on lipid metabolism in HepG2 cells. We found that total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) were significantly decreased in the cells after PGGS treatment. We have also shown that the AMPK signaling is activated after PGGS treatment as evidenced by changes in the expression of many AMPK downstream targets including SREBP-1c, SIRT-1, CPT1, PPARα, and FAS. Our results have demonstrated that PGGS is a potentially novel lipid-lowering agent for CVD prevention.