Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019209 (hepatomegaly)
 5,798 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Aflatoxin B1-induced liver lesion development is readily modified by dietary protein intake. Earlier work had shown that low-protein diets enhanced the acutely toxic lesion but depressed the carcinogenic lesion. This study examined the emergence of these lesions as a function of dietary protein intake, particularly with respect to whether the protein modification occurred during or after the aflatoxin B12 dosing period. High (20%) and low (5%) casein diets were fed to growing Fischer 344 rats during the dosing and postdosing periods of aflatoxin B2-induced hepatic preneoplastic lesion development. Focal areas of hepatocellular alteration were identified and quantitated by staining sections of liver for gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT). Animals fed low casein diets during the dosing period displayed a characteristic spectrum of lesions including hepatomegaly, severe bile duct proliferation, cholangiofibrosis, and a tendency for developing large remodeling GGT-positive foci. These lesions were regarded as symptomatic of acute hepatoxicity. Animals fed high-protein diets during the dosing period had small, densely stained, GGT-positive foci, with only mild bile duct proliferation and no cholangiofibrosis, hepatomegaly, or large, remodeling GGT-positive foci. During the postdosing period, protein modulation markedly influenced the total number of foci. Animals fed high casein diets during this period exhibited an approximate 6-fold increase in the number of foci, regardless of the level of protein fed during the earlier dosing period. The marked increase in foci number (as well as area of liver occupied) in high casein diet animals during the postdosing period is regarded as an increased tendency for tumor development.
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PMID:Effect of high and low dietary protein on the dosing and postdosing periods of aflatoxin B1-induced hepatic preneoplastic lesion development in the rat. 613 41

Effects of restricted tube-feeding (25% of energy requirements) of protein, lipid, or carbohydrates on body weight loss; hematologic and clinical chemical variables; plasma lipid and amino acid concentrations; nitrogen balance; and hepatic histologic features and lipid concentrations were compared with values in voluntary-fasting cats (control, CON). Twelve obese cats (6.1 +/- 0.1 kg, > 40% above optimal body weight) were randomly assigned to 4 matched treatment groups (n = 3)--protein (PRO), lipid (LIP), carbohydrate (CHO), and CON--and were offered a low-palatability diet for 4 weeks. Cats of the PRO, LIP, and CHO groups were also tube-fed isocaloric amounts (88 kcal of metabolizable energy) of a casein-soybean protein mixture, corn oil, or a dextrin-dextrose mixture, respectively, during the 4 weeks. All cats fasted, rather than eat the low-palatability purified diet. Cats of the PRO group lost weight at a lower rate (P < 0.05) than did cats of other groups. After 4 weeks of fasting, serum alkaline phosphatase activities were higher than reference values in all cats of the CON and LIP groups and in 2 cats of the CHO group. At that time, 1 cat of the LIP group had lethargy, hepatomegaly, and hyperbilirubinemia. Total hepatic lipid and triglyceride concentrations increased in all groups during the study, but the increase was significantly (P < 0.05) less in cats of the PRO group, compared with those of the CON and LIP groups, and those of the CHO group, compared with those of the LIP group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Effects of protein, lipid, or carbohydrate supplementation on hepatic lipid accumulation during rapid weight loss in obese cats. 799 98

Several investigators have reported that feeding a semi-synthetic diet of casein and dextrose to New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits will increase total serum cholesterol concentration, principally through an increase in the beta-lipoprotein fractions, thereby creating a useful model for atherosclerosis research. Although there is evidence to suggest that the dextrose/casein diet alters low-density lipoprotein receptor and bile acid clearance of cholesterol, the underlying mechanism is not completely understood. The effects of the diet on the overall physiology of the rabbit have received little attention. In this study feeding a diet of casein and dextrose of male NZW rabbits for 4 weeks resulted in changes in the serum lipid concentrations. During that time the rabbits fed the dextrose/casein diet gained less weight than did control rabbits. In the test diet rabbits, liver aspartate and alanine transaminase activities were increased from baseline values of 27 +/- 2 U/L and 89 +/- 9 U/L respectively to 112 +/- 21 U/L and 281 +/- 34 U/L respectively, then returned to the high end of the reference range. Necropsy findings included hepatomegaly caused by vacuolar hepatopathy in 19 or 20 experimental rabbits; rabbits fed the control diet had no hepatic lesions. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that enlargement of the liver cells was due to glycogen deposition. Adrenal glands from animals fed the experimental diet had a minimal change in the size of the adrenocortical cells consisting of slight ballooning and rarefaction of the cytoplasm. In a second study the level of dietary fiber was doubled. This resulted in a three-fold increase in lipid concentrations, compared with the fivefold increase in the first study. The liver enzyme activities were increased to the same extent as in the first study. Histologic changes were comparable to those in the first study. The activity of hepatic cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase was 3.7 +/- 0.4 pmol/min/mg of protein, compared with the control value of 7.7 +/- 1.1 pmol/min/mg of protein (P < 0.05) in the second study. The improved rate of weight gain and the lesser increase in total serum cholesterol concentration in the second study with increased dietary fiber suggest that two separate activities may be involved. Although the level of dietary fiber may be related to weight gain and total serum cholesterol values, the relation to the decrease in liver transaminase activities in study 1 was probably coincidental. It appears that the dextrose/casein diet causes decreased activity of hepatic cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase, which could cause a decrease in the biliary excretion of cholesterol.
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PMID:Hepatic and adrenal changes in rabbits associated with hyperlipidemia caused by a semi-synthetic diet. 874 27