PLoS ONE (Jan 2016)

Different Effects of Eicosapentaenoic and Docosahexaenoic Acids on Atherogenic High-Fat Diet-Induced Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Mice.

  • Noriko Suzuki-Kemuriyama,
  • Takashi Matsuzaka,
  • Motoko Kuba,
  • Hiroshi Ohno,
  • Song-Iee Han,
  • Yoshinori Takeuchi,
  • Masaaki Isaka,
  • Kazuto Kobayashi,
  • Hitoshi Iwasaki,
  • Shigeru Yatoh,
  • Hiroaki Suzuki,
  • Katsuhiro Miyajima,
  • Dai Nakae,
  • Naoya Yahagi,
  • Yoshimi Nakagawa,
  • Hirohito Sone,
  • Nobuhiro Yamada,
  • Hitoshi Shimano

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157580
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 6
p. e0157580

Abstract

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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome, can progress to steatohepatitis (NASH) and advanced liver damage, such as that from liver cirrhosis and cancer. Recent studies have shown the benefits of consuming n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for the treatment of NAFLD. In the present study, we investigated and compared the effects of the major n-3 PUFAs-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6)-in preventing atherogenic high-fat (AHF) diet-induced NAFLD. Mice were fed the AHF diet supplemented with or without EPA or DHA for four weeks. Both EPA and DHA reduced the pathological features of AHF diet-induced NASH pathologies such as hepatic lobular inflammation and elevated serum transaminase activity. Intriguingly, EPA had a greater hepatic triacylglycerol (TG)-reducing effect than DHA. In contrast, DHA had a greater suppressive effect than EPA on AHF diet-induced hepatic inflammation and ROS generation, but no difference in fibrosis. Both EPA and DHA could be effective for treatment of NAFLD and NASH. Meanwhile, the two major n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids might differ in a relative contribution to pathological intermediate steps towards liver fibrosis.