One of the consequences of the Western lifestyle and high-fat diet is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its aggressive form, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and is rapidly becoming the leading cause of end-stage liver disease or liver transplantation. Currently, rodent NASH models lack significant aspects of the full NASH spectrum, representing a major problem for NASH research. Therefore, this work aimed to characterize a fast rodent model with all characteristic features of NASH. Eight-week-old male ApoE KO mice were fed with Western diet (WD), high fatty diet (HFD) or normal chow (Chow) for 7 weeks. Whole-body fat was increased by ~2 times in WD mice and HFD mice and was associated with increased glucose intolerance, hepatic triglycerides, and plasma ALT and plasma AST compared with Chow mice. WD mice also showed increased galectin-3 expression compared with Chow or HFD mice and increased plasma cholesterol compared with Chow mice. WD and HFD displayed increased hepatic fibrosis and increased F4/80 expression. WD mice also displayed increased levels of plasma MCP-1. Hepatic inflammatory markers were evaluated, and WD mice showed increased levels of TNF-α, MCP-1, IL-6 and IFN-γ. Taken together, these data demonstrated that the ApoE KO mouse fed with WD is a great model for NASH research, once it presents the fundamental parameters of the disease, including hepatic steatosis, fibrosis, inflammation, and metabolic syndrome.

Male patients suffering from oligoasthenoteratozoospermia typically failed to achieve pregnancy, even with assisted reproductive technologies. Growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1 have been shown to regulate sperm quality parameters; therefore, the insulin-like growth factor 1 supplement could improve sperm parameters. Here, we determine the effect insulin-like growth factor 1 has on sperm parameters in a patient suffering from oligoasthenoteratozoospermia. A 47-year-old male was administered once a day 1.5 IU of insulin-like growth factor 1 by intradermal injection for 2 months. Seminogram analysis was performed before and after. Treatment with insulin-like growth factor 1 resulted in a 15.5-fold improvement in sperm concentration (1.1 × 10 6 vs 18.3 × 10 6 per mL), 71.4% change in volume (0.7 vs 1.2 mL), increased progressive motility (2% vs 43%), and the total volume of sperm with progressive motility (0% vs 23.6%). Here, we show that administering a daily dose of insulin-like growth factor 1 can improve sperm quality parameters.

Lifestyle and increased consumption of high fat diets contribute greatly to the development of obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes (DM2), and cardiovascular diseases, which are less prevalent in young women than in men of the same age or postmenopausal women. One of the consequences of the Western lifestyle and high fat diet is Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and its aggressive form, Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), which can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer (HCC) and is rapidly becoming the leading cause for end-stage liver disease or liver transplantation. Therefore, we evaluated if female mice were protected against Western Diet (WD)-induced NASH in apolipoprotein E (ApoE) KO animals. Female ApoE KO mice ovariectomized (OVX) or sham operated (SHAM) were fed a WD for 7 weeks. Whole-body fat was increased by ∼65% (P<0.001) in OVX mice associated with an increase of glucose intolerance of by ∼75% (P<0.01) and increased hepatic triglycerides (TAG) by 130% (P<0.01) compared with SHAM mice. OVX mice also displayed increased plasma ALT (∼130, P<0.001) and AST (∼65%, P<0.05) compared with SHAM mice. These data were associated with increased hepatic inflammation in OVX mice, demonstrated by an increased of F4/80 of by ∼70% (P<0.01). Hepatic fibrosis was also increased in OVX mice by ∼80% (P<0.001) compared with SHAM mice. Estradiol treatment of OVX mice reversed some of these effects, reducing whole-body fat (P<0.01), glucose intolerance (P<0.01), and hepatic TAG content (P<0.001). Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that estradiol protects OVX mice from WD-induced NASH and glucose intolerance, by protecting female mice against hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis. Disclosure G.V. Moreira: None. S.L. Matos: None. F.N. Camargo: None. L. Araujo: None. G.M. Murata: None. C.R.O. Carvalho: None. J. Camporez: None. Funding Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (2018/04956-5)