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Comparative study of fatty liver induced by methionine and choline-deficiency in C57BL/6N mice originating from three different sources

Laboratory Animal Research volume 33, pages 157–164 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is believed to be the most prevalent liver disease worldwide and a major cause of chronic liver injury. It is characterized by lipid accumulation in the absence of significant alcohol consumption and frequently progresses to steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Although many studies have been conducted to better understand NAFLD since it was first recognized, there are still many gaps in knowledge of etiology, prognosis, prevention and treatment. Methionine-choline deficient (MCD) diet, a well-established experimental model of NAFLD in rodents, rapidly and efficiently produces the clinical pathologies including macrovesicular steatosis and leads to disease progression. In this study, we measured the response to MCD diet in C57BL/6N mice obtained from three different sources; Korea NIFDS, USA, and Japan. We evaluated changes in body weight, food consumption, and relative weights of tissues such as liver, kidney, gonadal white adipose tissue, inguinal white adipose tissue, and brown adipose tissue. These basic parameters of mice with an MCD diet were not significantly different among the sources of mice tested. After 3 weeks on an MCD diet, histopathological analyses showed that the MCD diet induced clear fat vacuoles involving most area of the acinus in the liver of all mice. It was accompanied by increased serum activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, and decreased levels of serum triglyceride and cholesterol. In conclusion, the response of C57BL6N mice originating from different sources to the MCD diet showed no significant differences as measured by physiological, biochemical, and histopathological parameters.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by a grant of BIOREIN (Laboratory Animal Bio Resources Initiative) from Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2015.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Pharmacy, Pusan National University, 46241, Geumjeong-gu, Susan, Korea

    Sou Hyun Kim & Young-Suk Jung

  2. Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Nursing and Healthcare Science, Dong-Eui University, Busan, Korea

    Yong Lim & Ju Bin Park

  3. College of Pharmacy, Kyungsung University, Busan, Korea

    Jae-Hwan Kwak

  4. Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, Daekyeung College, Gyeongsan, Korea

    Keuk-Jun Kim & Joung-Hee Kim

  5. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, INJE University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea

    HyunKeun Song

  6. Exercise Biochemistry Laboratory, Korea National Sport University, Seoul, Korea

    Joon Young Cho

  7. Department of Biomaterials Science, College of Natural Resources & Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea

    Dae Youn Hwang

  8. College of Veterinary Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea

    Kil Soo Kim

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  1. Sou Hyun Kim
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Correspondence to Young-Suk Jung.

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Kim, S.H., Lim, Y., Park, J.B. et al. Comparative study of fatty liver induced by methionine and choline-deficiency in C57BL/6N mice originating from three different sources. Lab Anim Res 33, 157–164 (2017). https://doi.org/10.5625/lar.2017.33.2.157

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.5625/lar.2017.33.2.157

Keywords

  • Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
  • methionine-choline deficient diet
  • C57BL/6N

Laboratory Animal Research

ISSN: 2233-7660