1: J Nutr.  2004 May;134(5):1124-9.  

Kupffer cell activity is involved in the hepatoprotective effect of dietary
oligofructose in rats with endotoxic shock.

Neyrinck AM, Alexiou H, Delzenne NM.

Unit of Pharmacokinetics, Metabolism, Nutrition and Toxicology, School of
Pharmacy, Universite Catholique de Louvain, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium.

In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that dietary oligofructose (FOS)
can modulate both the response to an endotoxic shock induced by
lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration and the activity of resident hepatic
macrophages, i.e., Kupffer cells. Male Wistar rats (n = 5-9 per group) were fed
a standard diet or a diet supplemented with 10 g/100 g FOS for 3 wk. LPS (10
mg/kg) or saline were injected i.p. after dietary treatment. After LPS
injection, serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, a proinflammatory
cytokine, and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)), an immunosuppressive mediator, were
higher in FOS-treated rats than in control rats. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT)
activity was approximately 50% lower than in controls 24 h after LPS
administration in FOS-treated rats, suggesting less hepatic injury; this was
confirmed through histological analysis. FOS treatment increased the number of
large phagocytic Kupffer cells, as assessed by histological examination of the
liver after colloidal carbon injection into the portal vein. Precision-cut liver
slices (PCLS) from FOS-treated rats released more TNF-alpha and PGE(2) into the
incubation medium than PCLS from control rats, independently of LPS challenge in
vitro. This would suggest that the higher Kupffer cell phagocytic activity and
secretion capacity due to FOS supplementation improve LPS clearance in liver
tissue and reduce hepatocyte alterations. This study supports the hypothesis
that oligofructose might decrease liver tissue injury after endotoxic shock and
sepsis.

PMID: 15113957 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]