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Regulation of Hepatic Inflammation by Folic Acid in Non‐alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)
Author(s) -
Sid Victoria,
Shang Yvette,
Siow Chris,
Karmin O
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.780.8
Subject(s) - fatty liver , steatosis , medicine , endocrinology , inflammation , disease
Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a multifaceted liver disorder that often exists with the comorbidities of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The histopathology of NAFLD is characterized by steatosis, inflammation, fibrosis, and liver injury. Chronic hepatic inflammation is an important pathogenic mediator of NAFLD that contributes to disease severity. The progression of NAFLD may be associated with development of cardiovascular disease which is the primary cause of death in patients. Dietary supplementation of vitamins is important for health maintenance, and has been suggested to be a beneficial strategy for NAFLD management. Folic acid is a water soluble B vitamin that has been demonstrated to have lipid‐lowering and anti‐oxidant effects. The objective of our study was to investigate the effects of folic acid supplementation on hepatic inflammation and to identify the underlying mechanisms. Male C57Bl/6J mice were fed a control diet (10% kcal fat), a high‐fat diet (60% kcal fat), or a high‐fat diet supplemented with folic acid (26mg/kg diet) for a 5 week period. High‐fat diet feeding induced a significant body weight gain and increased aggregation of inflammatory foci in the liver. Folic acid supplementation did not alter the body weight of mice fed a high‐fat diet. However, folic acid supplementation reduced the number of inflammatory foci as well as lipid vacuoles in the liver of high‐fat diet fed mice. This correlated with reduced expression of pro‐inflammatory cytokines mediated through attenuation of NF‐κB transcription activity, an inflammatory transcriptional regulator. Our results suggest that folic acid supplementation can alleviate the hepatic inflammatory response induced by chronic consumption of high‐fat diets, which may contribute to the hepatoprotective effect by folic acid. Support or Funding Information This study was supported, in part, by NSERC and CIHR.