Fat: quality or quantity? What matters most for the progression of Metabolic Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD).

Abstract

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Fat: Quality, or Quantity? What Matters Most for the Progression of Metabolic Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD) by Olga Estévez-Vázquez 1,2ORCID,Raquel Benedé-Ubieto 1,2,Feifei Guo 2,Beatriz Gómez-Santos 3ORCID,Patricia Aspichueta 3,4,5ORCID,Johanna Reissing 6,Tony Bruns 6ORCID,Carlos Sanz-García 2ORCID,Svenja Sydor 7ORCID,Lars P. Bechmann 7,Eva Maranillo 8,José Ramón Sañudo 8,María Teresa Vázquez 8,Arantza Lamas-Paz 2ORCID,Laura Morán 2,9,Marina S. Mazariegos 2,Andreea Ciudin 10ORCID,Juan M. Pericàs 5,11,María Isabel Peligros 12,Javier Vaquero 5,9,13ORCID,add Show full author list 1 Department of Physiology, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain 2 Department of Immunology, Ophthalmology and ENT, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain 3 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain 4 Biocruces Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain 5 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Madrid, Spain 6 Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany 7 Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Knappschaftskrankenhaus, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany 8 Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain 9 Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM), 28009 Madrid, Spain 10 Endocrinology Department, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Vall d’Hebron Institute for Research (VHIR), 08035 Barcelona, Spain

add Show full affiliation list * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. † These authors contributed equally to this work. Biomedicines 2021, 9(10), 1289; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines9101289 Submission received: 12 August 2021 / Revised: 13 September 2021 / Accepted: 19 September 2021 / Published: 22 September 2021 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolic Syndrome and NASH: From Molecular Basis to Therapy) Downloadkeyboard_arrow_down Browse Figures Review Reports Versions Notes Abstract Objectives: Lately, many countries have restricted or even banned transfat, and palm oil has become a preferred replacement for food manufacturers. Whether palm oil is potentially an unhealthy food mainly due to its high content of saturated Palmitic Acid (PA) is a matter of debate. The aim of this study was to test whether qualitative aspects of diet such as levels of PA and the fat source are risk factors for Metabolic Syndrome (MS) and Metabolic Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD). Methods: C57BL/6 male mice were fed for 14 weeks with three types of Western diet (WD): 1. LP-WD—low concentration of PA (main fat source—corn and soybean oils); 2. HP-WD—high concentration of PA (main fat source—palm oil); 3. HP-Trans-WD—high concentration of PA (mainly transfat). Results: All types of WD caused weight gain, adipocyte enlargement, hepatomegaly, lipid metabolism alterations, and steatohepatitis. Feeding with HP diets led to more prominent obesity, hypercholesterolemia, stronger hepatic injury, and fibrosis. Only the feeding with HP-Trans-WD resulted in glucose intolerance and elevation of serum transaminases. Brief withdrawal of WDs reversed MS and signs of MAFLD. However, mild hepatic inflammation was still detectable in HP groups. Conclusions: HP and HP-Trans-WD play a crucial role in the genesis of MS and MAFLD.