Dieta hiperlipídica e/ou rica em sacarose em camundongos suíços: metabolismo de carboidratos, fígado e tecido adiposo

Abstract

The non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a multifactorial disorder caused mainly by excess nutritional and insulin resistance, with an estimated prevalence of 20-40% in Western countries. The diet can to influence in the development of fatty liver associated with obesity and insulin resistance. The liver plays a central role in metabolic control, is a target organ, in case of excess of food, mainly causing accumulation of fat droplets in hepatocytes. This study aimed to evaluate the early morphological and metabolic changes in the liver and adipose tissue of male Swiss mice fed high-fat and/or high-sucrose diets. Twenty three-month-old male Swiss Webster mice were divided into 4 groups: standard chow (SC), high-fat diet (HF), high-sucrose diet (HSu) and high-fat-high-sucrose diet (HFHSu). Animals received the respective diets for 4 weeks; throughout the experiment, body mass, food intake and oral glucose tolerance were evaluated. After the mice were euthanized, the liver was removed and processed for histomorphometrical and molecular analysis. Blood samples were obtained for serum analysis. The data were tested by one-way ANOVA with a Holm-Sidak post-hoc test and were expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean; the significance level was set at p < 0.05. The HF and HFHSu groups were heavier than the SC and HSu groups. Animals from the HF, HSu and HFHSu groups presented glucose intolerance, hepatomegaly, liver steatosis and augmented hepatic triglycerides when compared to the SC group (p<0.0005). Additionally, there was an elevation in glucose transporter 2 (GLUT-2), sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), glucose 6 phosphatase (G6PASE), insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), protein kinase B (AKT/ or PKB) protein expression and a reduction in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-alpha) expression in liver from the experimental groups compared to those of the SC group (p<0.0005). Administration of high-fat and/or high-sucrose diets promoted glucose intolerance and liver damage (hepatomegaly, steatosis, reduced beta-oxidation, increased lipogenesis and glucose production) in adult male mice.