Prolonged Chronic Consumption of a High Fat with Sucrose Diet Alters the Morphology of the Small Intestine

Abstract

(1) The high-fat diet (HFD) of western countries has dramatic effect on the health of several organs, including the digestive tract, leading to the accumulation of fats that can also trigger a chronic inflammatory process, such as that which occurs in non-alcohol steatohepatitis. The effects of a HFD on the small intestine, the organ involved in the absorption of this class of nutrients, are still poorly investigated. (2) To address this aspect, we administered a combined HFD with sucrose (HFD w/Suc, fat: 58% Kcal) regimen (18 months) to mice and investigated the morphological and molecular changes that occurred in the wall of proximal tract of the small intestine compared to the intestine of mice fed with a standard diet (SD) (fat: 18% Kcal). (3) We found an accumulation of lipid droplets in the mucosa of HFD w/Suc-fed mice that led to a disarrangement of mucosa architecture. Furthermore, we assessed the expression of several key players involved in lipid metabolism and inflammation, such as perilipin, leptin, leptin receptor, PI3K, p-mTOR, p-Akt, and TNF-α. All these molecules were increased in HFD mice compared to the SD group. We also evaluated anti-inflammatory molecules like adiponectin, adiponectin receptor, and PPAR-γ, and observed their significant reduction in the HFD w/Suc group compared to the control. Our data are in line with the knowledge that improper eating habits present a primary harmful assault on the bowel and the entire body’s health. (4) These results represent a promising starting point for future studies, helping to better understand the complex and not fully elucidated spectrum of intestinal alterations induced by the overconsumption of fat.

High-fat-diet-associated intestinal microbiota exacerbates psoriasis-like inflammation by enhancing systemic γδ T cell IL-17 production

“…In parallel, we observed a marked lipid droplet accumulation in the mucosa of HFD-fed mice ( Figure 3 A), indicating disruption of the intestinal architecture and possibly inducing inflammation across the mucosa, as reported in previous studies. 16 These observations were correlated with decreased levels of Mucin-2 protein ( Figure 3 B) and decreased expression of Mucin-2 , -3 , -4 , and -13 mRNA in the intestine ( Figure 3 C), whereas the expression profiles of pro-inflammatory cytokines were unchanged ( Figure S7 B). Altogether, these data suggest that HFD impaired the mucus barrier in the gut.…”

Effect of dietary supplementation with sanguinarine on meat quality and lipid metabolism of broilers

“…Thus, the liver plays a crucial role in the poultry's lipid metabolism ( Zhang et al, 2022b ). Additionally, the intestine is also an important physiological organ of the fat metabolism, including the digestion, absorption, transport and synthesis of fat and so on ( Sferra et al, 2021 ). Changes in lipid metabolism can affect meat quality.…”

PPAR-Gamma Orchestrates EMT, AGE, and Cellular Senescence Pathways in Colonic Epithelium and Restrains the Progression of IBDs

“…Semiquantitative evaluation of immunohistochemical staining was performed using the immunohistochemistry profiler, a plugin of a digital image analysis public domain software ImageJ version 1.52a (U.S. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA) [49,50]. Four random microscopic fields from all experimental groups were photographed at the same magnification and analyzed.…”