Comparison of Three Different Diet-Induced Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Protocols in Rats: A Pilot Study

Background: There are many methods for inducing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in experimental animals. Due to the diversity of these methods and different variables involved in choosing the appropriate one, this study aimed to examine the effect of three different diets on development of NAFLD in rats. Methods: Twelve rats were divided to receive a standard, high fat high fructose (HFHFr), high cholesterol high fructose (HCHFr) or high fat high sucrose diet (HFHS); with access to tap water, fructose or sucrose solutions. The liver histopathological and biochemical assessments were examined after 40 and 60 days. Results: According to the histological findings, after 60 days of dietary exposures, all three experimental groups showed evidence of fatty changes; however a higher grade of ballooning and NAFLD activity score was found in the HFHFr compared with the other groups. Furthermore, all three diets induced a non-significant increase in serum liver enzymes relative to the control diet. Conclusion: This study indicates that HFHFr diet induce higher grade of hepatic steatosis and ballooning degenerations after 60 days in comparison with the other groups. So HFHFr diet can be considered as a suitable method for inducing of fatty liver for nutritional and pharmacological studies.