Velázquez, Ana MagdalenaRoglans i Ribas, NúriaBentanachs, RogerGené, MariaSala Vila, AleixLázaro, IolandaRodríguez-Morató, Jose, 1987-Sánchez, Rosa MaríaLaguna, Juan CarlosAlegret i Jordà, Marta2022-01-242022-01-242020Velázquez AM, Roglans N, Bentanachs R, Gené M, Sala-Vila A, Lázaro I, et al. Effects of a low dose of caffeine alone or as part of a green coffee extract, in a rat dietary model of lean non-alcoholic fatty liver disease without inflammation. Nutrients. 2020 Oct 23; 12(11): 3240. DOI: 10.3390/nu121132402072-6643http://hdl.handle.net/10230/52290Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a highly prevalent condition without specific pharmacological treatment, characterized in the initial stages by hepatic steatosis. It was suggested that lipid infiltration in the liver might be reduced by caffeine through anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and fatty acid metabolism-related mechanisms. We investigated the effects of caffeine (CAF) and green coffee extract (GCE) on hepatic lipids in lean female rats with steatosis. For three months, female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a standard diet or a cocoa butter-based high-fat diet plus 10% liquid fructose. In the last month, the high-fat diet was supplemented or not with CAF or a GCE, providing 5 mg/kg of CAF. Plasma lipid levels and the hepatic expression of molecules involved in lipid metabolism were determined. Lipidomic analysis was performed in liver samples. The diet caused hepatic steatosis without obesity, inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum stress, or hepatic insulin resistance. Neither CAF nor GCE alleviated hepatic steatosis, but GCE-treated rats showed lower hepatic triglyceride levels compared to the CAF group. The GCE effects could be related to reductions of hepatic (i) mTOR phosphorylation, leading to higher nuclear lipin-1 levels and limiting lipogenic gene expression; (ii) diacylglycerol levels; (iii) hexosylceramide/ceramide ratios; and (iv) very-low-density lipoprotein receptor expression. In conclusion, a low dose of CAF did not reduce hepatic steatosis in lean female rats, but the same dose provided as a green coffee extract led to lower liver triglyceride levels.application/pdfengCopyright © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu12113240CaffeineCoffeeDietary supplementsHepatic steatosisNon-alcoholic fatty liver diseaseinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess