Influence of oleic acid in different solvent media on BRL 3A cell growth and viability

Oleic acid (OA) is widely used in pathology studies of hepatocellular lipid deposition. Identifying the effects of different solvents on OA-induced liver lipid deposition would be beneficial for studies on hepatocytes. We treated BRL 3A cells with OA dissolved in different solvents. After 12 h incubation, cell viability was assessed using MTT assays. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) counts, and the expression level of glucose regulated protein (GRP78), sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP-1C) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) were analyzed. Water, PBS and DMSO were disadvantageous to the dissolution of OA and did not cause an OA-induced response in hepatocytes. In the alcohol+OA-treated cells, the severe ER stress, oxidative stress and cellular fat deposition were significantly increased. BSA promoted cell growth and the cells treated with 1.2% BSA+OA showed a lower grade TG and endoplasmic reticulum stress compared with KOH+OA and alcohol+OA treatments. KOH had no significant influence on BRL 3A cells viability. When treated with OA dissolved in KOH, BRL 3A cells showed a typical hepatocyte damage. KOH was considered the suitable choice for an OA solvent for BRL 3A cells in hepatic lipidosis research.