| First Author | Mas E | Year | 2009 |
| Journal | PLoS One | Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 11 | Pages | e7929 |
| PubMed ID | 19936233 | Mgi Jnum | J:155402 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4413618 | Doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0007929 |
| Citation | Mas E, et al. (2009) IL-6 deficiency attenuates murine diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. PLoS One 4(11):e7929 |
| abstractText | BACKGROUND: The role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a common cause of liver disease, is still poorly understood. This study aimed at assessing the involvement of a major inflammatory cytokine, IL-6, in NASH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Steatohepatitis was induced by feeding wild-type or IL-6(-/-) mice for 5 weeks with a methionine and choline-deficient (MCD) diet. RESULTS: Whereas MCD diet-induced weight loss and decreases in serum glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels were similar in both genotypes, serum alanine aminotransferase was less elevated in IL-6(-/-) mice than in wild-type animals. Despite having a comparable liver steatosis score, IL-6-deficient mice exhibited less lobular inflammation than their wild-type littermates. Liver gene expression of TGF-beta and MCP-1 was also strongly attenuated in mutant mice; a more modest reduction was observed for PPAR-gamma and F4/80 transcripts as well as proteins. Chromatographic analysis of liver lipids demonstrated that MCD diet induced in normal and mutant mice a similar decrease in the ratio of phosphatidylcholine to phosphatidylethanolamine. However, the diet-induced increase in the levels of sphingomyelin and ceramide was less important in IL-6(-/-) mice. CONCLUSION: Altogether, these results indicate that IL-6 deficiency does not block the development of NASH; yet, IL-6 plays a critical role in the accompanying liver inflammation. |
