PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Nakamachi, Takafumi AU - Nomiyama, Takashi AU - Gizard, Florence AU - Heywood, Elizabeth B. AU - Jones, Karrie L. AU - Zhao, Yue AU - Fuentes, Lucia AU - Takebayashi, Kohzo AU - Aso, Yoshimasa AU - Staels, Bart AU - Inukai, Toshihiko AU - Bruemmer, Dennis TI - PPARα Agonists Suppress Osteopontin Expression in Macrophages and Decrease Plasma Levels in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes AID - 10.2337/db06-1177 DP - 2007 Jun 01 TA - Diabetes PG - 1662--1670 VI - 56 IP - 6 4099 - http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/56/6/1662.short 4100 - http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/56/6/1662.full SO - Diabetes2007 Jun 01; 56 AB - Osteopontin (OPN) is a proinflammatory cytokine implicated in the chemoattraction of monocytes and the development of atherosclerosis. Peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor (PPAR)α, a ligand-activated transcription factor with pleiotropic anti-inflammatory effects in macrophages, is the molecular target for fibrates, which are frequently used to treat dyslipidemia in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk for cardiovascular disease. In the present study, we examined the regulation of OPN by PPARα agonists in macrophages and determined the effect of fibrate treatment on OPN plasma levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. Treatment of human macrophages with the PPARα ligands bezafibrate or WY14643 inhibited OPN expression. PPARα ligands suppressed OPN promoter activity, and an activator protein (AP)-1 consensus site conferred this repression. Overexpression of c-Fos and c-Jun reversed the inhibitory effect of PPARα ligands on OPN transcription, and, in chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, PPARα ligands inhibited c-Fos and phospho–c-Jun binding to the OPN promoter. Moreover, c-Fos and phospho–c-Jun protein expression was inhibited by PPARα agonists, indicating that PPARα ligands suppress OPN expression through negative cross talk with AP-1–dependent transactivation of the OPN promoter. This inhibitory effect of PPARα ligands on OPN expression was absent in PPARα-deficient macrophages, suggesting a receptor-mediated mechanism of OPN suppression. Finally, treatment of type 2 diabetic patients with bezafibrate significantly decreased OPN plasma levels. These results demonstrate a novel mechanism whereby PPARα ligands may impact macrophage inflammatory responses and decrease early proinflammatory markers for cardiovascular disease.