A high fat containing chicken egg-only diet suppresses fatty liver induced by a lipid-rich methionine and choline deficient diet

Abstract Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a simple hepatic steatosis, which may proceed to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in the presence of steatosis and inflammation with hepatocyte injury. Obesity induced by a high-fat diet or high monosaccharide diet is considered a risk factor for NAFLD. A popular mouse model of NAFLD is a high-fat diet consisting of 60% energy from fat. A modified methionine and choline deficient (MCD) diet containing 60% energy from fat (CDAHFD) is a quick induction model for NAFLD. Chicken eggs also contain 60% energy from fat with very low carbohydrate. Here we compared liver pathologies in mice fed either a CDAHFD or egg-only diet. We found that a CDAHFD induced NAFLD within only two weeks. Ballooning of hepatocytes with an of immune cell appearance in the liver and high serum ALT and AST indicated that the mice fed CDAHFD developed NAFLD, which could proceed to NASH. However, mice fed an egg-only diet did not develop NAFLD even after 7 weeks. These mice showed normal liver histology with normal ALT and AST. The mice fed an egg-only diet showed high blood ketone bodies and normal blood glucose. Furthermore we found that the mice fed a combination CDAHFD /egg diet or mice fed an egg-only diet after two weeks of CDAHFD diet showed almost normal ALT and AST with reduced levels of fat bodies in the liver. These results indicate that an egg-only diet strongly inhibits high fat and carbohydrates induced NAFLD.