Identification Of Gene Expression Patterns In A Rat Model Of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

PurposeNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged as one of the most common chronic liver diseases over the past decade. It consists of a spectrum of liver disease, ranging from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma. NAFLD is strongly associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes and hyperdyslipidemia, which are the main features of the recently characterized metabolic syndrome. Growing evidences showed that NAFLD is the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome while insulin resistance is the central feature of metabolic syndrome which can lead to hepatic steatosis. The development of NAFLD is a biological process that associated with various genes, proteins and pathways. Genetic and environmental factors both contribute to the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Despite of intensive studies in recent years, the precise mechanisms of NAFLD remain unclear. cDNA microarray is a high throughput approach that used to detect disease-associated genes with high speed, sensitivity and automation. It has been extensively adopted in various areas. In the present study, we established a rat model of NAFLD using high fat diet and cDNA microarray was applied to study the gene expression pattern of the liver tissues from NAFLD group and control groups, in order to obtain some clues for the study of pathogenesis of NAFLD. MethodsMale Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups: control group (NC) with a general diet and model group (HF) with a high-fat diet for 4 weeks. The liver species were examined for histopathology and cDNA microarray was used to detect the gene expression patterns of the liver tissues from model and control groups.ResultsHepatocellular steatosis and inflammatory infiltration were observed in liver after 4-week of high-fat diet, which mimic main features in human NAFLD. There were 51 genes with significant difference in livers of HF group compared with NC group, of which 20 were up-regulated and 31 were down-regulated. Most of the up-regulated genes were involved in lipid metabolism and cell apoptosis, while the down-regulated genes were participated in fatty acid oxidation, protein modification and energy metabolism.Conclusion:Various genes were significant up-/down-regulated in the rat model of NAFLD induced by high-fat diet. The identification of these genes will not only enhances our understanding of molecular mechanisms of NAFLD but also provides new therapeutic targets as the function of specific gene can be manipulated through delivery of mRNA interfere.