The effects of rosiglitazone on fatty liver of high fat and cholesterol-fed rabbits

What the effects of rosiglitazone treatment on the fatty liver remained controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rosiglitazone on fatty liver of rabbits. Thirty nine male Japanese white rabbits were divided into three groups, the rosiglitazone treatment Group 1 (3 mg/kg/day), rosiglitazone treatment Group 2 (6 mg/kg/day) and the control group and were fed a High Fat and Cholesterol Diet (HFCD) for 8 weeks. The Rabbit Fatty Liver Model was successfully established. HFCD resulted in a notable increase in plasma Total Cholesterol (TC) and plasma Triglycerides (TG). However, there was no significant difference among three groups in the plasma and liver parameters of TG and TC. The total body fat weight and the ratio of fat weight to body weight were higher in the rosiglitazone treatment groups vs. the control group while the ratio of the main organs and body weight were lower in the rosiglitazone treatment groups as compared to the control group. Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE) staining of liver suggested that rosiglitazone treatment led to a slight improvement of fatty liver in HFCD rabbits but the difference was not significant. The findings demonstrate that rosiglitazone treatment did not lead to significant improvement of fatty liver in rabbits.