Medium chain fatty acids from milk induce angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) gene expression

Milk fat has been shown to induce expression of the angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) gene. The present study took advantage of the indigenous lipoprotein lipase in milk to generate elevated levels of free fatty acids (FFAs) and used the human colon cell line HCT 116 to investigate the ability of milk with different levels of FFAs to induce expression of ANGPTL4 mRNA. The role of the generated classes of FFAs in the milk was investigated. The FFA content in whole milk correlated positively with ANGPTL4 gene expression. Highest induction of ANGPTL4 mRNA induction was observed in response to medium chain FFAs compared with short chain FFAs, long chain saturated and monounsaturated FFAs. The ability of FFAs to induce ANGPTL4 mRNA expression correlated with the ability to activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) with the highest response on PPARδ.