Vitamin D reduces fatty liver problems in rats fed a high fat diet

Created June 2018

Early effects of high-fat diet, extra-virgin olive oil and vitamin D in a sedentary rat model of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Histol Histopathol. 2018 Jun 1:18008. doi: 10.14670/HH-18-008. [Epub ahead of print]

Trovato FM1, Castrogiovanni P2, Szychlinska MA2, Purrello F1, Musumeci G3.

1 Dept of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Internal Medicine Unit, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.

2 Dept of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.

3 Dept of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. g.musumeci@unict.it.

* NAFLD in children nicely treated by combination of Vitamin D and Omega-3 – RCT Dec 2016 * Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) treated by Vitamin D (20,000 IU weekly after loading dose) – RCT June 2016 * Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease treated by Omega-3 – three meta-analysis 2016-2017 * Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) reduced somewhat by 50,000 IU vitamin D every 2 weeks – RCT Sept 2014 * Liver Inflammation (NAFLD) is prevented by Vitamin D – review May 2015 * Search for Fatty Liver in VitaminDWiki 627 items June 2018 * Overview Liver and vitamin D * Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (4 in 10 seniors) and Vitamin D * Note: Many doctors and seniors are unaware of NAFLD

BACKGROUND AND AIM:

Western high-fat diet is related to metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Decreased levels of Vitamin D (VitD) and IGF-1 and their mutual relationship were also reported. We aimed to evaluate whether different dietary profiles, containing or not VitD, may exert different effects on liver tissue.

METHODS:

Twenty-eight male rats were fed for 10 weeks by different dietary regimens:

  • R, regular diet;

  • R-DS and R-DR, regular diet with respectively VitD supplementation (DS) and restriction (DR);

  • HFB-DS and HFB-DR (41% energy from fat), high fat (butter) diet;

  • HFEVO-DS and HFEVO-DR (41% energy from fat), high fat (Extra-virgin olive oil-EVO) diet.

Severity of NAFLD was assessed by NAFLD Activity Score. Collagen type I, IL-1beta, VitD-receptor, DKK-1 and IGF1 expressions were evaluated by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS:

All samples showed a NAS between 0 and 2 considered not diagnostic of steatohepatitis. Collagen I, although weakly expressed, was statistically greater in HFB-DS and HFB-DR groups.

IL-1 was mostly expressed in rats fed with HFBs and HFEVOs and R-DR, and almost absent in R and R-DS diets. IGF-1 and DKK-1 were reduced in HFBs and HFEVOs diets and in particular in DR groups.

CONCLUSIONS:

A short-term high-fat diet could damage liver tissue in terms of inflammation and collagen I deposition, setting the basis for the subsequent steatohepatitis, still not identifiable anatomopathologically.

Vitamin D restriction increases inflammation and reduces the expression of IGF-1 in the liver, worsening the fat-induced changing. EVOO seems be protective against the collagen I production.

PMID: 29855033 DOI: 10.14670/HH-18-008

Tags: Liver Metabolic Syndrome