LCHP diet enriched with cholesterol promotes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in wistar rats

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of a low-carbohydrate–high-protein diet, enriched with cholesterol ($LCHP_{ch}$), on body weight, lipid metabolism, as well as kidney and liver function in rats. Wistar rats (N = 18, male) were randomly allocated into experimental groups and fed a modified AIN-93G diet with the addition of 1% cholesterol ($AIN_{ch}$, $WD_{ch}$ and $LCHP_{ch}$ diets) for 8 weeks. Despite the lack of significant differences in the final body weight and liver weight of animals, the kidneys of rats in the $LCHP_{ch}$ group were considerably heavier compared to the control group. Serum total cholesterol and the sum of low- and very-low-density fractions of cholesterol as well as ALT activity were significantly increased in the $LCHP_{ch}$ rats in comparison to the $AIN_{ch}$ group. Simultaneously, the highest content of liver fat was obtained for animals from $LCHP_{ch}$ group. It was also shown that both $WD_{ch}$ and $LCHP_{ch}$ diets significantly changed fatty acid profile in the adipose tissue of rats compared to control, with a significant increase in SFA and MUFA and a decrease in PUFA. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was observed in rats fed not only $WD_{ch}$ but also $LCHP_{ch}$ diets. The detailed mechanism still needs to be investigated to prevent the organism from the harmful effects of macronutrient dietary imbalance.