Estado de estrés oxidativo en el hígado graso experimental en ratones machos y su proyección sobre la funcionalidad hepática

In veterinary medicine the role of oxidative stress (OS) in animal production and reproduction has become important due to the alteration of both functions in animals with hepatosteatosis or fatty liver (FL). This study aimed to determine whether a state of hepatic OS was established in the experimental FL caused by ethionine in adult male mice NMRI, and whether liver function was altered. Two groups of 10 animals were used: one control and another treated with DL-ethionine intraperitoneally at 7.5 mg/20 g body weight. The magnitude and characteristics of FL were determined histologically and the amount of liver fat depot was established by the concentration of triglycerides. Both analysis corroborated generation of hepatosteatosis in males injected with DL-ethionine. Products from lipoperoxidative degradation (conjugated dienes (CD) and malondialdehyde (MDA), indicators of cellular OS, were quantified spectrophotometrically by its concentration in liver homogenate. Damage to liver function was measured by plasmatic levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), using commercial kits. The induction of FL caused a significant rise in CD from 231.18 ± 15.53 µmoles/mg protein to 297.45 ± 23.10 mmoles/mg protein (P<0.05), as well as the MDA: from 364.91 ± 17.73 nmoles/mg protein to 852.91 ± 55.26 nmoles/mg protein (P<0.001). In mice with FL aminotransferases plasmatic activity increased significantly: ALT of 59.40 ± 5.16 U/l from 169.86 ± 18.78 U/l (P<0.001) and AST from 158.35 ± 13.54 U/l to 241.93 ± 10.14 U/l (P<0.05). These results show that in ethionine-induced FL in male NMRI mice a state of OS is induced that could be responsible for the alteration in liver function.