Yu-Jui Yvonne Wan, PhD, professor and vice chair of the pathology department at UC Davis Health, and colleagues used farnesoid x receptor-deficient mice to attempt to understand how a Western diet impacts inflammation. Patients with cirrhosis or liver cancer are known to have low FXR levels.
Researchers studied wild-type and FXR-deficient mice fed either a Western or control diet for 10 months.
Here’s what they found:
1. There were similarities between Western diet intake and FXR deficiencies. Mice that were FXR deficient developed steatosis on both diets, however.
2. FXR-deficient male mice had both massive lymphocyte and neutrophil liver infiltration.
3. Only Western diet-fed male FXR-deficient mice had fatty adenomas.
4. After the Western diet-fed FXR-deficient mice received broad-spectrum antibiotic treatments both Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes persisted. Researchers believe adverse effects could be related to the presences of Proteobacteria.
Researchers concluded, “These studies show that a Western diet intake and FXR inactivation also increased hepatic inflammatory signaling, with a combined enhanced effect. Introducing antibiotics to reduce inflammation also had different effects based on the diets the mice received.”
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