Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide, and specific treatment modalities are lacking. Accumulating evidence suggests that hepatic inflammation plays a key role in the progression from hepatic steatosis to MASH. Macrophages, especially anti-inflammatory macrophages, serve as natural immune cells that maintain homeostasis in the immune microenvironment. Here, we aimed to reveal the role of anti-inflammatory macrophages in MASH and investigate the underlying mechanism involved. METHODS & RESULTS: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) were isolated from the supernatant of anti-inflammatory bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) by ultracentrifugation, and their protein profile was characterized by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC‒MS/MS) analysis. Murine hepatocytes were stimulated with palmitic acid (PA) followed by treatment with EVs or oxysterol-binding protein-related protein 8 (ORP8/Osbpl8) shRNA. C57BL/6 mice were fed a methionine- and choline-deficient (MCD) diet for 3 weeks to establish MASH. The mice were then treated with EVs or shRNA-encoding AAV. In vitro and ex vivo experiments revealed that extracellular vesicles derived from anti-inflammatory BMDMs inhibited inflammatory responses and alleviated lipotoxicity during MASH. We identified Osbpl8 as a vital component of M2-BMDMs by LC-MS/MS analysis and found that Osbpl8 remodels lipid metabolism by inhibiting excessive IRE1α-XBP1-related ER stress. Furthermore, Osbpl8-enriched M2-BMDM-EVs promoted anti-inflammatory and antilipotoxic effects and could be a novel therapeutic target for the clinical treatment of MASH. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that Osbpl8 derived from EVs secreted by anti-inflammatory BMDMs plays important roles in intercellular communication between macrophages and hepatocytes, revealing a novel regulatory mechanism of macrophage homoeostasis in MASH.