The miniature pig is a suitable animal model for investigating human cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, the alterations in lipid metabolism within atherosclerotic plaques of miniature pigs, along with the underlying mechanisms, remain to be comprehensively elucidated. In this study, we aim to examine the alterations in lipid composition and associated pathways in the abdominal aorta of atherosclerotic pigs induced by a high-fat, high-cholesterol, and high-fructose (HFCF) diet using lipidomics and RNA-Seq methods. The results showed that the content and composition of aortic lipid species, particularly ceramide, hexosyl ceramide, lysophosphatidylcholine, and triglyceride, were significantly altered in HFCF-fed pigs. Meanwhile, the genes governing sphingolipid metabolism, iron ion homeostasis, apoptosis, and the inflammatory response were significantly regulated by the HFCF diet. Furthermore, C16 ceramide could promote iron deposition in RAW264.7 cells, leading to increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, apoptosis, and activation of the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear Factor-kappa B (NF-қB) inflammatory pathway, which could be mitigated by deferoxamine. Our study demonstrated that dysregulated ceramide metabolism could increase ROS production, apoptosis, and inflammatory pathway activation in macrophages by inducing iron overload, thus playing a vital role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. This discovery could potentially provide a new target for pharmacological therapy of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis.
Keywords: atherosclerosis; ceramide; iron; lipidomics; miniature pigs; oxidative stress.