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The Cholesterol-Raising Factor from Coffee Beans, Cafestol, as an Agonist Ligand for the Farnesoid and Pregnane X Receptors

Baylor College of Medicine (M.L.R., D.D.M.), Houston, Texas 77030; Division of Human Nutrition (M.V.B., G.J.E.J.H., M.M.), Wageningen University, and Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences (M.V.B.), 6703 HD Wageningen, The Netherlands; Center for Human and Clinical Genetics (A.J.K., C.J.A.M., R.R.F.), and Department of Medical Statistics (S.K.), Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands; TNO Pharma (S.M.P., H.M.G.P.), 2301 CE Leiden, The Netherlands; Incyte Corp. (J.G.P.), Palo Alto, California 94304; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (M.B.K.), Institute for Health Sciences, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (M.H.H.), University Medical Center, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Marie-Louise Ricketts, Ph.D., Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, BCM 130, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030. E-mail: mlrick{at}bcm.tmc.edu.

Cafestol, a diterpene present in unfiltered coffee brews such as Scandinavian boiled, Turkish, and cafetière coffee, is the most potent cholesterol-elevating compound known in the human diet. Several genes involved in cholesterol homeostasis have previously been shown to be targets of cafestol, including cholesterol 7-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), the rate-limiting enzyme in bile acid biosynthesis. We have examined the mechanism by which cafestol elevates serum lipid levels. Changes in several lipid parameters were observed in cafestol-treated APOE3Leiden mice, including a significant increase in serum triglyceride levels. Microarray analysis of these mice identified alterations in hepatic expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism and detoxification, many of which are regulated by the nuclear hormone receptors farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and pregnane X receptor (PXR). Further studies demonstrate that cafestol is an agonist ligand for FXR and PXR, and that cafestol down-regulates expression of the bile acid homeostatic genes CYP7A1, sterol 12-hydroxylase, and Na⁺-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide in the liver of wild-type but not FXR null mice. Cafestol did not affect genes known to be up-regulated by FXR in the liver of wild-type mice, but did increase expression of the positive FXR-target genes intestinal bile acid-binding protein and fibroblast growth factor 15 (FGF15) in the intestine. Because FGF15 has recently been shown to function in an enterohepatic regulatory pathway to repress liver expression of bile acid homeostatic genes, its direct induction in the gut may account for indirect effects of cafestol on liver gene expression. PXR-dependent gene regulation of cytochrome P450 3A11 and other targets by cafestol was also only seen in the intestine. Using a double FXR/PXR knockout mouse model, we found that both receptors contribute to the cafestol-dependent induction of intestinal FGF15 gene expression. In conclusion, cafestol acts as an agonist ligand for both FXR and PXR, and this may contribute to its impact on cholesterol homeostasis.

NURSA Molecule Pages Link:

Nuclear Receptors:   FXRα  |  PXR

Coregulators:   SRC-1

Ligands:   Rifampicin  |  Pregnenolone carbonitrile  |  GW4064