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Regular Manuscript

Effects of 3,5-diiodo-L-thyronine administration on the liver of high fat diet fed rats

¹ University of Genoa
² university of Genoa
³ Università degli Studi di Urbino

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: laura.vergani{at}unige.it.

	Abstract

In rats feeding high fat diet (HFD), long-term administration of 3,5-diiodo-L-thyronine (T<inf>2</inf>), a naturally occurring iodothyronine, was shown to reduce body-weight gain, fat mass and hepatic lipid accumulation. This work was aimed at investigating the mechanisms of T<inf>2</inf> action in the liver of HFD rats. The results show that HFD induces liver lipid peroxidation and stimulates the activity of enzymes involved in H<inf>2</inf>O<inf>2</inf> metabolism, catalase in particular. Moreover, quantitative RT-PCR revealed HFD-induced upregulation of the transcription factor PPAR, as well as of metallothionein isoforms (MT-1 and MT-2). T<inf>2</inf> administration prevented the HDF-induced lipid peroxidation, as well as the increase in H<inf>2</inf>O<inf>2</inf> metabolism, and reduced the upregulation of both PPAR and MT-2. These data demonstrate that in the liver of HFD rats T<inf>2</inf> prevents both lipid accumulation and oxidative stress associated with increased fat metabolism.

Key Words: Wistar Rats, oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, metallothioneins (MT-1 and MT-2)