Lycopene Improves Diet-Mediated Recuperation in Rat Model of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the synergic effect of lycopene (LYC) treatment with a dietary control in a nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) model induced with a high-fat diet (HFD). Sprague-Dawley rats were fed during 4 weeks with a normal diet (ND·4w) or an HFD (HFD·4w) to produce an NAFLD model. Then, rats from the ND·4w group continued during 4 weeks with the same diet (ND·8w), and rats from HFD were fed during 4 weeks with an ND (HFD·4w+ND·4w) or an ND plus LYC (HFD·4w+ND+LYC·4w). LYC (20 mg/kg) was administered daily by gavage. ND and ND+LYC diets partially reverted the following alterations due to HFD: liver weight, serum low-density lipoproteins (LDL), hepatic total cholesterol (TC), and catalytic activity of hepatic superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, as well as macroscopic and microscopic images of livers. A higher recuperation to reach normality was obtained with ND+LYC in: liver weight, hepatic TC, serum LDL, and, in some instances, macroscopic and microscopic images of livers. Failures to recovery with both NDs were observed for malondialdehyde level and serum aspartate aminotransferase activity. Taken together, the results from this study suggest the potentially protective role of LYC against NAFLD; however, more clinical trials are needed to support this idea.

The Potential of Non-Provitamin A Carotenoids for the Prevention and Treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

“…A recent study used lycopene supplements in Sprague-Dawley rats with high-fat diet-induced NAFLD [76]. The purpose of this study was to assess if lycopene supplementation would have synergistic effects with a control diet in reversing hepatic steatosis and hepatic morphological changes produced by a high-fat diet after NAFLD has developed.…”

“…Morphological changes observed in the livers of the rats fed a high-fat diet included hepatocyte swelling and macrovesicular steatosis with numerous cytoplasmic vacuoles. The average steatosis score for these animals was significantly higher than that for the rats fed the control diet [76]. …”

“…Although the authors of these two papers [75,76] attribute the protective effects of tomato juice to lycopene, it is pertinent to remark that the treatment given to the rats was not lycopene alone, and therefore the observed effects could be due to other bioactive components present in tomatoes or a synergistic effect between lycopene and these compounds. However, studies with lycopene alone have shown that this carotenoid does play a role in the regulation of hepatic metabolism.…”

Antagonistic effects of lycopene on cadmium-induced hippocampal dysfunctions in autophagy, calcium homeostatis and redox

“…Another study indicates that the antioxidant activity of LYC is mainly dependent on its O 2− and -OH scavenging properties [ 10 ]. Studies have suggested that intake of LYC-enriched food results in many health benefits, such as decreased risks of cardiovascular diseases [ 11 ], nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [ 12 ], malignant brain tumor, brain injury, and other disease [ 13 – 15 ]. The promising effect of LYC on reducing these disease risks is mainly due to the potential of LYC on activating antioxidant enzyme activities and decreasing oxidant productions.…”

Role of Dietary Carotenoids in Different Etiologies of Chronic Liver Diseases

“…It can reduce high-fat diet-induced steatohepatitis by reducing oxidative stress to the cells. It has been also shown that incorporation of lycopene in balanced diet prevents NAFLD [67,68]. Lycopene may be a useful functional compound for treating NAFLD by regulating hepatic lipid metabolism [69].…”