Gene expression in livers of BALB/C and C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat diet

• Published in: Toxicologic pathology Vol. 40; no. 1; p. 71
• Main Authors: Nishikawa, Satomi, Sugimoto, Jiro, Okada, Miyoko, Sakairi, Tetsuya, Takagi, Shiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2012
• Subjects: Animals; Body Weight - drug effects; Cholesterol - blood; Diet, High-Fat; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Energy Intake; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Gene Expression Profiling; Hepatocytes - metabolism; Hepatocytes - pathology; Histocytochemistry; Liver - chemistry; Liver - metabolism; Liver - pathology; Liver - physiology; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Organ Size - drug effects; Triglycerides - blood; Up-Regulation - drug effects
• ISSN: 1533-1601
• DOI: 10.1177/0192623311422078

We previously demonstrated that high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hepatic lipid accumulation is more severe in BALB/c mice than in C57BL/6J (B6) mice. To understand the changes in liver metabolism, we studied blood chemistry, gene expression, and histopathological changes of the liver in nine-week HFD-fed BALB/c and B6 mice and one- or four-week HFD-fed BALB/c mice. Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly increased in all HFD-fed groups, and one- and four-week HFD-fed BALB/c groups, respectively. Histopathology revealed that vacuolation of hepatocytes was severe in nine-week HFD-fed BALB/c mice, although it was less severe in the other groups. Microarray analysis of mRNA expression of nine-week HFD-fed BALB/c mice showed up-regulation of genes involved in fatty acid uptake and biosynthesis, such as Cd36, Acaca, Acly, and Fasn. Some changes were observed in the one- and four-week HFD-fed BALB/c groups and the nine-week HFD-fed B6 group, however these changes in mRNA expression were not so marked. In conclusion, the fatty accumulation observed in BALB/c mice may be caused, at least in part, by up-regulation of fatty acid uptake and biosynthesis. Cd36, Acaca, Acly and Fasn may be involved in these metabolic processes.