The role of oxidative stress in NASH and fatty liver model.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether oxidative stress is related to the development of liver injury and an iron chelator, deferoxamine (DFO) can prevent lipid peroxidation resulting in reduced liver injury as well as reduce preneoplastic lesions induced by a choline-deficient l-amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet. CDAA diet administration resulted in an increased serum ALT level after one week. Hepatocytes in rat liver fed a CDAA diet showed malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation. But simultaneous DFO treatment for one week reduced this elevation of ALT as well as MDA accumulation in the liver. Feeding rats a CDAA diet for 14 weeks led to the development of severe liver fibrosis and preneoplastic lesions detected as enzyme-altered lesions. DFO treatment also prevented the expression of activated stellate cells, resulting in the reduction of liver fibrosis as well as reducing the development of preneoplastic lesions. These results indicate that iron chelation can reduce the development of preneoplastic lesions in a CDAA diet model.