This Event is licensed under the Creative Commons BY-SA license. This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

Event: 459

Key Event Title

A descriptive phrase which defines a discrete biological change that can be measured. More help

Increased, Liver Steatosis

Short name
The KE short name should be a reasonable abbreviation of the KE title and is used in labelling this object throughout the AOP-Wiki. More help
Increased, Liver Steatosis
Explore in a Third Party Tool

Biological Context

Structured terms, selected from a drop-down menu, are used to identify the level of biological organization for each KE. More help
Level of Biological Organization
Organ

Organ term

The location/biological environment in which the event takes place.The biological context describes the location/biological environment in which the event takes place.  For molecular/cellular events this would include the cellular context (if known), organ context, and species/life stage/sex for which the event is relevant. For tissue/organ events cellular context is not applicable.  For individual/population events, the organ context is not applicable.  Further information on Event Components and Biological Context may be viewed on the attached pdf. More help
Organ term
liver

Key Event Components

The KE, as defined by a set structured ontology terms consisting of a biological process, object, and action with each term originating from one of 14 biological ontologies (Ives, et al., 2017; https://aopwiki.org/info_pages/2/info_linked_pages/7#List). Biological process describes dynamics of the underlying biological system (e.g., receptor signalling).Biological process describes dynamics of the underlying biological system (e.g., receptor signaling).  The biological object is the subject of the perturbation (e.g., a specific biological receptor that is activated or inhibited). Action represents the direction of perturbation of this system (generally increased or decreased; e.g., ‘decreased’ in the case of a receptor that is inhibited to indicate a decrease in the signaling by that receptor).  Note that when editing Event Components, clicking an existing Event Component from the Suggestions menu will autopopulate these fields, along with their source ID and description.  To clear any fields before submitting the event component, use the 'Clear process,' 'Clear object,' or 'Clear action' buttons.  If a desired term does not exist, a new term request may be made via Term Requests.  Event components may not be edited; to edit an event component, remove the existing event component and create a new one using the terms that you wish to add.  Further information on Event Components and Biological Context may be viewed on the attached pdf. More help
Process Object Action
Hepatic steatosis increased

Key Event Overview

AOPs Including This Key Event

All of the AOPs that are linked to this KE will automatically be listed in this subsection. This table can be particularly useful for derivation of AOP networks including the KE.Clicking on the name of the AOP will bring you to the individual page for that AOP. More help
AOP Name Role of event in AOP Point of Contact Author Status OECD Status
NR1I3 suppression to steatosis AdverseOutcome Allie Always (send email) Under Development: Contributions and Comments Welcome
PXR activation to steatosis AdverseOutcome Cataia Ives (send email) Under Development: Contributions and Comments Welcome
NRF2/FXR to steatosis AdverseOutcome Brendan Ferreri-Hanberry (send email) Under Development: Contributions and Comments Welcome
AKT2 activation to steatosis AdverseOutcome Arthur Author (send email) Under Development: Contributions and Comments Welcome
Peroxisomal Fatty Acid Beta-Oxidation Inhibition Leading to Steatosis AdverseOutcome Evgeniia Kazymova (send email) Under Development: Contributions and Comments Welcome
Inhibition fatty acid beta oxidation leading to nonalcoholic steatohepatisis (NASH) KeyEvent Arthur Author (send email) Open for adoption
Inhibition of N-linked glycosylation leads to liver injury KeyEvent Arthur Author (send email) Under development: Not open for comment. Do not cite
GR activation leading to hepatic steatosis AdverseOutcome Agnes Aggy (send email) Under Development: Contributions and Comments Welcome
PXR activation leads to liver steatosis AdverseOutcome Evgeniia Kazymova (send email) Under development: Not open for comment. Do not cite
LXR activation leads to liver steatosis AdverseOutcome Cataia Ives (send email) Under development: Not open for comment. Do not cite
PFOS binding to PPARs leads to liver steatosis AdverseOutcome Evgeniia Kazymova (send email) Under development: Not open for comment. Do not cite
NFE2/Nrf2 repression to steatosis AdverseOutcome Agnes Aggy (send email) Open for adoption
AhR activation to steatosis AdverseOutcome Agnes Aggy (send email) Under Development: Contributions and Comments Welcome
AhR and chronic liver diseases KeyEvent Cataia Ives (send email) Under development: Not open for comment. Do not cite

Taxonomic Applicability

Latin or common names of a species or broader taxonomic grouping (e.g., class, order, family) that help to define the biological applicability domain of the KE.In many cases, individual species identified in these structured fields will be those for which the strongest evidence used in constructing the AOP was available in relation to this KE. More help
Term Scientific Term Evidence Link
Vertebrates Vertebrates High NCBI

Life Stages

An indication of the the relevant life stage(s) for this KE. More help
Life stage Evidence
All life stages High

Sex Applicability

An indication of the the relevant sex for this KE. More help
Term Evidence
Unspecific High

Key Event Description

A description of the biological state being observed or measured, the biological compartment in which it is measured, and its general role in the biology should be provided. More help

Biological state: liver steatosis is the inappropriate storage of fat in hepatocytes.   Four major pathways for triglyceride accumulation are: 1. Increased fatty acid uptake; 2. Increased De Novo FA and Lipid Synthesis; 3. Decreased FA Oxidation; 4. Decreased Lipid Efflux (Angrish et al. 2016).  Chemical stressors can increase gene expression of key genes involving these pathways, leading to increased accumulation of triglycerides (Aguayo-Orozco et al. 2018).  In addition, excessive dietary compounds of fatty compounds can also increase likelihood of accumulation of triglycerides (Nguyen et al. 2008). 

Biological compartment: steatosis is generally an organ-level diagnosis; however, the pathology occurs within the hepatocytes.

Role in biology: steatosis is an adverse endpoint. 

Description from EU-ToxRisk:

Activation of stellate cells results in collagen accumulation and change in extracellular matrix composition in the liver causing fibrosis. (Landesmann, 2016; Koo et al 2016)

How It Is Measured or Detected

A description of the type(s) of measurements that can be employed to evaluate the KE and the relative level of scientific confidence in those measurements.These can range from citation of specific validated test guidelines, citation of specific methods published in the peer reviewed literature, or outlines of a general protocol or approach (e.g., a protein may be measured by ELISA). Do not provide detailed protocols. More help

Steatosis is measured by lipidomics approaches (e.g. Yang and Han 2016) that measure lipid levels, or by histology.  Concentrations of triglycerides, cholesterols, fatty acids, and related compounds are measured biochemically include high throughput enzymatic analyses, analytical ultracentrifuging, gradient gel electrophoresis, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and other direct assessment techniques (Schaefer et al. 2016).

Domain of Applicability

A description of the scientific basis for the indicated domains of applicability and the WoE calls (if provided).  More help

Steatosis is the result of perturbations in well-known metabolic pathways that are well-studied and well-known in many taxa.

Life Stage: The life stage applicable to this key event is all life stages with a liver.  Older individuals are more likely to manifest this adverse outcome pathway (adults > juveniles) due to accumulation of triglycerides.

Sex: This key event applies to both males and females.

Taxonomic: This key event appears to be present broadly in vertebrates, with most representative studies in mammals (humans, lab mice, lab rats).

Regulatory Significance of the Adverse Outcome

An AO is a specialised KE that represents the end (an adverse outcome of regulatory significance) of an AOP. More help

Steatosis is a regulatory endpoint and has been used as an endpoint in many US EPA assessments, including IRIS assessments.

References

List of the literature that was cited for this KE description. More help

Aguayo-Orozco, A.A., Bois, F.Y., Brunak, S., and Taboureau, O.  2018.  Analysis of Time-Series Gene Expression Data to Explore Mechanisms of Chemical-Induced Hepatic Steatosis Toxicity.  Frontiers in Genetics 9(Article 396): 1-15.

Angrish, M.M., Kaiser, J.P., McQueen, C.A., and Chorley, B.N.  2016.  Tipping the Balance: Hepatotoxicity and the 4 Apical Key Events of Hepatic Steatosis.  Toxicological Sciences 150(2): 261–268.

Landesmann, B. (2016). Adverse Outcome Pathway on Protein Alkylation Leading to Liver Fibrosis, (2).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2005.08.010

Koo, J. H., Lee, H. J., Kim, W., & Kim, S. G. (2016). Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Hepatic Stellate Cells Promotes Liver Fibrosis via PERK-Mediated Degradation of HNRNPA1 and Up-regulation of SMAD2. Gastroenterology, 150(1), 181–193.e8. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2015.09.039

Nguyen, P., Leray, V., Diez, M., Serisier, S., Le Bloc’h, J., Siliart, B., and Dumon, H.  2008.  Liver lipid metabolism.  Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 92: 272–283.  

Schaefer EJ, Tsunoda F, Diffenderfer M, Polisecki, E., Thai, N., and Astalos, B. The Measurement of Lipids, Lipoproteins, Apolipoproteins, Fatty Acids, and Sterols, and Next Generation Sequencing for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Lipid Disorders. [Updated 2016 Mar 29]. In: Feingold KR, Anawalt B, Blackman MR, et al., editors. Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK355892/

Yang, K. and Han, X.  2016.  Lipidomics: Techniques, applications, and outcomes related to biomedical sciences.  Trends in Biochemical Sciences 2016 November ; 41(11): 954–969.

NOTE: Italics symbolize edits from John Frisch