Activation of Kupffer Cells Is Associated with a Specific Dysbiosis Induced by Fructose or High Fat Diet in Mice

PLoS One. 2016 Jan 5;11(1):e0146177. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146177. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

The increase consumption of fructose in diet is associated with liver inflammation. As a specific fructan substrate, fructose may modify the gut microbiota which is involved in obesity-induced liver disease. Here, we aimed to assess whether fructose-induced liver damage was associated with a specific dysbiosis, especially in mice fed a high fat diet (HFD). To this end, four groups of mice were fed with normal and HFD added or not with fructose. Body weight and glucose sensitivity, liver inflammation, dysbiosis and the phenotype of Kupffer cells were determined after 16 weeks of diet. Food intake was increased in the two groups of mice fed with the HFD. Mice fed with HFD and fructose showed a higher infiltration of lymphocytes into the liver and a lower inflammatory profile of Kupffer cells than mice fed with the HFD without fructose. The dysbiosis associated with diets showed that fructose specifically prevented the decrease of Mouse intestinal bacteria in HFD fed mice and increased Erysipelotrichi in mice fed with fructose, independently of the amount of fat. In conclusion, fructose, used as a sweetener, induced a dysbiosis which is different in presence of fat in the diet. Consequently, the activation of Kupffer cells involved in mice model of HFD-induced liver inflammation was not observed in an HFD/fructose combined diet. These data highlight that the complexity of diet composition could highly impact the development of liver lesions during obesity. Specific dysbiosis associated with the diet could explain that the progressions of liver damage are different.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / drug effects
  • Adipose Tissue / metabolism
  • Adipose Tissue / pathology
  • Animals
  • Body Weight / drug effects
  • Diet, High-Fat*
  • Dysbiosis / metabolism*
  • Dysbiosis / pathology
  • Eating / drug effects
  • Fructose / administration & dosage*
  • Inflammation / metabolism
  • Inflammation / pathology
  • Kupffer Cells / drug effects
  • Kupffer Cells / metabolism*
  • Kupffer Cells / pathology
  • Liver / drug effects*
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Liver / pathology
  • Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • Lymphocytes / pathology
  • Mice
  • Obesity / metabolism
  • Obesity / pathology

Substances

  • Fructose

Grants and funding

This work was supported by INSERM, Université Paris-Sud, Groupe Lipide Nutrition (GLN), the National French Society of Gastroenterology (SNFGE), IRIS (institut de recherches internationales Servier), Association Française pour l'Etude du Foie (AFEF) and National Program on diabetes Research (PNR-diabete). AL holds fellowships from conseil régional d’Ile-de-France and GF holds fellowships from the Ministère de la recherche. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.