Metabolic Differences in the Steatosis Induced by a High-Fat Diet and High-Protein-Fat Diet in Rats

The study aim was to evaluate some effects of a high-fat diet and a high-protein-fat diet in the hepatic steatosis development in rats. Twenty nine Wistar rats were divided at random into three groups: Control: a control diet with soybean oil; HF: a high-fat diet with 50% of lard; HPF: a high-protein-fat diet with about 40% of protein and 50% of lard. The groups were fed with these diets during four weeks. The following parameters were analyzed: hepatic steatosis, serum and hepatic lipid profile, lipid peroxidation, antioxidants concentration and hepatocytes damage. The HF group showed the highest caloric intake per day and the highest weight gain (p 0.05), whereas the MUFA concentration was higher in the HF and HPF (p>0.05) than the control group (p<0.05). Therefore, the experimental model used is an efficient model to study hepatic steatosis. The HF and HPF groups had the same behaviors for oxidative stress, serum glucose and hepatic damage in responses to the experimental diets, but these groups showed different esteatosis features.