A new model of acute liver steatosis induced in rats by fasting followed
by refeeding a high carbohydrate-fat free diet. Biochemical and morphological
analysis.
Delzenne NM, Hernaux NA, Taper HS
Departement de Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Universite Catholique de Louvain,
Brussels, Belgium. delzenne@bctc.ucl.ac.be
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Dietary habits are often considered to be responsible
for fatty liver, a common histological finding in human liver biopsies.
The aim of the present work was to test the hypothesis that fasting followed
by refeeding high carbohydrate-fat free diets in rats disrupts hepatic
lipid homeostasis, leading to liver lipid accumulation and morphological
alterations. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were fasted for 48 h, then refed
ad libitum with a high carbohydrate-fat free diet. RESULTS: Six hours after
refeeding, a slight microvacuolar steatosis, mainly located in zone I was
observed, whereas later on in the process, macrovacuolar steatosis extended
to all three zones of the hepatic lobules. The present paper also contributes
information on the mechanism of fasting-high carbohydrate-fat free diet,
diet-induced steatosis: we show that both circulating and de novo hepatic
synthesized fatty acid availabilities are implicated in the disequilibrium
between triglyceride synthesis and secretion. CONCLUSIONS: The results
are discussed, taking into account the putative implication of carbohydrate-induced
lipogenesis in human fatty liver, occurring in non-insulin-dependent diabetic
or obese patients.
PMID: 9126803, UI: 97271958