HFD determines mild steatosis and hepatic iron accumulation with increased ferritin.

<p>Rats were fed for 12 weeks with standard chow (n = 6), or high fat diet (HFD, n = 6), or HFD plus s.c. iron administration at week 8 (250 mg iron sulfate, n = 6). A) Representative images of hematoxylin-eosin staining of liver section with magnification of 10X as indicated. B) Concentrations of serum cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose. C) Serum iron levels. D) Dietary iron intake and hepatic iron concentration (HIC) measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. E) Ferritin H mRNA levels in HFD and HFD+iron rats compared to controls. Gene expression was evaluated by qRT-PCR. F) Ferritin H protein levels evaluated by Western Blotting. G) Densitometric analysis of ferritin H protein levels; β-actin is shown as the loading control. The figure is representative of results obtained in 6 animals per group, replicated in two independent experiments. Values are expressed as means±SD. AU, arbitrary units. *p<0.05 vs controls.