Folic acid supplementation attenuates chronic liver inflammation

Folic acid supplementation attenuates chronic liver inflammation in mice fed a high-fat diet

Victoria Sid, Yue Shang, Yaw L Siow, Susara Madduma Hewage, James D House, Karmin O

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common form of chronic liver disease worldwide. Liver inflammation is an important pathogenetic mediator of NAFLD. There is currently no approved pharmacological agent for the treatment of NAFLD. Folic acid is a water-soluble B vitamin that has been shown to have antioxidant and lipid-lowering effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of folic acid supplementation on liver inflammation and to identify the underlying mechanisms. Male C57BL / 6 J mice were fed a control diet (10% kcal from fat), a high fat diet (HFD) (60% kcal from fat), or an HFD supplemented with folic acid (26 mg / kg of diet) for 8 weeks. . HFD feeding led to increased body mass gain, lipid accumulation, activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) transcription factor, and elevated inflammatory cytokine gene expression in the liver. Folic acid supplementation attenuated the accumulation of liver lipids and the aggregation of inflammatory foci induced by feeding with HFD. This was associated with a significant reduction in NF-κB activation and the expression of inflammatory cytokines. These results suggest that the hepatoprotective effect of folic acid on NAFLD may be attributed, in part, to its anti-inflammatory action.