Wilson’s disease (WD) is an inherited disorder of copper metabolism with predominant hepatic manifestations. Left untreated, it can be fatal. Current therapies focus on treating copper overload rather than targeting the pathophysiology of copper-induced liver injuries. We sought to investigate whether liposome-encapsulated curcumin (LEC) could attenuate the underlying pathophysiology of WD in a mouse model of WD.

Subcutaneous administration in a WD mouse model with ATP7B knockout (Atp7b^-/-) resulted in robust delivery of LEC to the liver as determined by in-vitro and in-vivo imaging. Treatment with LEC attenuated hepatic injuries, restored lipid metabolism and decreased hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, and thus hepatosplenomegaly in Atp7b^-/- mice. Mechanistically, LEC decreased hepatic immune cell and macrophage infiltration and attenuated the hepatic up-regulation of p65 by preventing cellular translocation of high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1). Moreover, decreased translocation of HMGB1 was associated with reduced splenic CD11b⁺/CD43⁺/Ly6C^Hi inflammatory monocyte expansion and circulating level of proinflammatory cytokines. Nevertheless there was no change in expression of oxidative stress-related genes or significant copper chelation effect of LEC in Atp7b^-/- mice.

Our results indicate that treatment with subcutaneous LEC can attenuate copper-induced liver injury in an animal model of WD via suppression of HMGB1-mediated hepatic and systemic inflammation. These findings provide important proof-of-principle data to develop LEC as a novel therapy for WD as well as other inflammatory liver diseases.