A new model of acute liver steatosis induced in rats by fasting followed by refeeding a high carbohydrate-fat free diet. Biochemical and morphological analysis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Dietary habits are often considered to be responsible for fatty liver, a common histological finding in human liver biopsies. The aim of the present work was to test the hypothesis that fasting followed by refeeding high carbohydrate-fat free diets in rats disrupts hepatic lipid homeostasis, leading to liver lipid accumulation and morphological alterations.
METHODS: Male Wistar rats were fasted for 48 h, then refed ad libitum with a high carbohydrate-fat free diet.
RESULTS: Six hours after refeeding, a slight microvacuolar steatosis, mainly located in zone I was observed, whereas later on in the process, macrovacuolar steatosis extended to all three zones of the hepatic lobules. The present paper also contributes information on the mechanism of fasting-high carbohydrate-fat free diet, diet-induced steatosis: we show that both circulating and de novo hepatic synthesized fatty acid availabilities are implicated in the disequilibrium between triglyceride synthesis and secretion.
CONCLUSIONS: The results are discussed, taking into account the putative implication of carbohydrate-induced lipogenesis in human fatty liver, occurring in non-insulin-dependent diabetic or obese patients.