Age-related decrease in expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and its effects on development of dyslipidemia

Background Ageing is associated with increased incidence of dyslipidemia. To investigate potential molecular mechanisms, the effects of age and fibrate administration on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α(PPARα) expression in livers of young and old rats were studied.Methods A total of 16 young (2-month-old) and 16 old rats (24-month-old) were randomly assigned to a control group and fenofibrate group (fenofibrate in a total therapeutic dosage of 0.5% in ratio to each treated rat weight in 14 days). RT-PCR was applied to evaluate hepatic mRNA expression of PPARα and its target genes.Western blotting was used to determine PPARα protein level in liver tissue.Results When compared with 2-month-old rats, the liver tissue from 24-month-old rats showed reduced expression of PPARα mRNA (52%, P