Cafeteria diet from birth to adulthood promotes hepatic steatosis and redox imbalance in Wistar rats
ISSN: 0034-6659
Article publication date: 27 July 2020
Issue publication date: 6 May 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the pathological, biochemical and redox state parameters of liver tissue in Wistar rats treated from birth to adulthood (119 days) with cafeteria diet.
Design/methodology/approach
During the lactation, 6 liters of Wistar rats (dam + 8 pups each) were fed one of two diets: control (CTRL; n = 3) or cafeteria (CAF; n = 3) diets and water ad libitum. After weaning, the males were placed in individual cages, receiving the same diet offered to their respective dams (CTRL or CAF; n = 18) until adulthood. The following parameters were evaluated: absolute and relative liver weight; blood, liver and feces biochemistry; liver histology; and redox state of the liver.
Findings
When assessing the relative and absolute organ weight, no significant differences were found between the groups. The Cafeteria group exhibited higher values of serum LDL-c (p = 0.008), VLDL-c (p = 0.03) and triglycerides (p = 0.01), as well as several micro and macrovacuoles of fat accumulation, higher hepatic lipid (p = 0.03) and cholesterol (p = 0.0001) levels regarding Control group. Cafeteria group showed greater expression of glutathione-s-transferase (p = 0.03) and superoxide dismutase (p = 0.005) enzymes compared to the control group. In the case of the markers of oxidative stress, there was no difference between the groups.
Originality/value
A simple and standardized cafeteria diet caused an accumulation of fatty acids in liver tissue, inducing a state of hepatic steatosis besides an increased expression of antioxidant enzymes.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study was financed by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES; Financial Code 001).
Citation
Gomes, L.F., Costa, S.A.M., Rocha-Gomes, A., Teixeira, A.E., Silva, A.A.d., Lessa, M.R., Dessimoni-Pinto, N.A.V., Stuckert Seixas, S.R. and Riul, T.R. (2021), "Cafeteria diet from birth to adulthood promotes hepatic steatosis and redox imbalance in Wistar rats", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 51 No. 3, pp. 483-493. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-05-2020-0191
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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