Exchanging dietary fat source with extra virgin olive oil does not prevent progression of diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and insulin resistance

• Published in: PloS one 2020-09, Vol.15 (9), p.e0237946-e0237946
• Main Authors: Rajcic, Dragana, Brandt, Annette, Jin, Cheng Jun, Sánchez, Victor, Engstler, Anna Janina, Jung, Finn, Nier, Anika, Baumann, Anja, Bergheim, Ina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal fat; Biology and Life Sciences; Butterfat; Carbohydrates; Cholesterol; Damage tolerance; Diet; Disease resistance; Exchanging; Fatty acids; Fatty liver; Glucose; Glucose metabolism; Glucose tolerance; Insulin; Insulin resistance; Laboratory animals; Lipid metabolism; Lipid peroxidation; Lipids; Liver; Liver diseases; Markers; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolic disorders; Metabolism; Muscles; Nutrition research; Oils & fats; Olive oil; Patients; Peroxidation; Polyphenols; Proteins; Soybean oil; Soybeans
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237946

Dietary fat is discussed to be critical in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Here, we assess the effect of exchanging dietary fat source from butterfat to extra virgin olive oil on the progression of an already existing diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in mice. Female C57BL/6J mice were fed a liquid butterfat-, fructose- and cholesterol-rich diet (BFC, 25E% from butterfat) or control diet (C, 12%E from soybean oil) for 13 weeks. In week 9, fat sources of some BFC- and C-fed mice were switched either to 25E% or 12E% olive oil (OFC and CO). Glucose and insulin tolerance tests were performed, and markers of liver damage and glucose metabolism were assessed. After 6 weeks of feeding, BFC-fed mice had developed marked signs of insulin resistance, which progressed to week 12 being not affected by the exchange of fat sources. Liver damage was similar between BFC- and OFC-fed mice. Markers of lipid metabolism and lipid peroxidation in liver and of insulin signaling in liver and muscle were also similarly altered in BFC- and OFC-fed mice. Taken together, our data suggest that exchanging butterfat with extra virgin olive oil has no effect on the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and glucose tolerance in mice.