TY - JOUR
T1 - Disease Progression and Pharmacological Intervention in a Nutrient-Deficient Rat Model of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis
AU - Tolbol, Kirstine S.
AU - Stierstorfer, Birgit
AU - Rippmann, Joerg F.
AU - Veidal, Sanne S.
AU - Rigbolt, Kristoffer T. G.
AU - Schoenberger, Tanja
AU - Gillum, Matthew P.
AU - Hansen, Henrik H.
AU - Vrang, Niels
AU - Jelsing, Jacob
AU - Feigh, Michael
AU - Broermann, Andre
PY - 2019/5/15
Y1 - 2019/5/15
N2 - BackgroundThere is a marked need for improved animal models of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) to facilitate the development of more efficacious drug therapies for the disease.MethodsHere, we investigated the development of fibrotic NASH in male Wistar rats fed a choline-deficient l-amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet with or without cholesterol supplementation for subsequent assessment of drug treatment efficacy in NASH biopsy-confirmed rats. The metabolic profile and liver histopathology were evaluated after 4, 8, and 12weeks of dieting. Subsequently, rats with biopsy-confirmed NASH were selected for pharmacological intervention with vehicle, elafibranor (30mg/kg/day) or obeticholic acid (OCA, 30mg/kg/day) for 5weeks.ResultsThe CDAA diet led to marked hepatomegaly and fibrosis already after 4weeks of feeding, with further progression of collagen deposition and fibrogenesis-associated gene expression during the 12-week feeding period. Cholesterol supplementation enhanced the stimulatory effect of CDAA on gene transcripts associated with fibrogenesis without significantly increasing collagen deposition. Pharmacological intervention with elafibranor, but not OCA, significantly reduced steatohepatitis scores, and fibrosis-associated gene expression, however, was unable to prevent progression in fibrosis scores.ConclusionCDAA-fed rats develop early-onset progressive NASH, which offers the opportunity to probe anti-NASH compounds with potential disease-modifying properties.
AB - BackgroundThere is a marked need for improved animal models of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) to facilitate the development of more efficacious drug therapies for the disease.MethodsHere, we investigated the development of fibrotic NASH in male Wistar rats fed a choline-deficient l-amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet with or without cholesterol supplementation for subsequent assessment of drug treatment efficacy in NASH biopsy-confirmed rats. The metabolic profile and liver histopathology were evaluated after 4, 8, and 12weeks of dieting. Subsequently, rats with biopsy-confirmed NASH were selected for pharmacological intervention with vehicle, elafibranor (30mg/kg/day) or obeticholic acid (OCA, 30mg/kg/day) for 5weeks.ResultsThe CDAA diet led to marked hepatomegaly and fibrosis already after 4weeks of feeding, with further progression of collagen deposition and fibrogenesis-associated gene expression during the 12-week feeding period. Cholesterol supplementation enhanced the stimulatory effect of CDAA on gene transcripts associated with fibrogenesis without significantly increasing collagen deposition. Pharmacological intervention with elafibranor, but not OCA, significantly reduced steatohepatitis scores, and fibrosis-associated gene expression, however, was unable to prevent progression in fibrosis scores.ConclusionCDAA-fed rats develop early-onset progressive NASH, which offers the opportunity to probe anti-NASH compounds with potential disease-modifying properties.
KW - NASH
KW - CDAA
KW - Cholesterol
KW - Elafibranor
KW - OCA
KW - Fibrosis
U2 - 10.1007/s10620-018-5395-7
DO - 10.1007/s10620-018-5395-7
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 30511198
SN - 0163-2116
VL - 64
SP - 1238
EP - 1256
JO - Digestive Diseases and Sciences
JF - Digestive Diseases and Sciences
IS - 5
ER -