Comparison of liver cells structure between a control group of mice and the ones fed with a Western diet

Nealkoholna maščobna jetrna bolezen (NAFLD) je najbolj razširjena kronična bolezen jeter, ki se pojavi zaradi nalaganja maščob v jetrnih celicah. Povezana je z visoko vsebnostjo maščob in ogljikovih hidratov v prehrani – z zahodno dieto, ki je danes v svetu vse bolj razširjena. Namen naše raziskave je bil ugotoviti, ali se struktura in ultrastruktura jetrnih celic osebkov hranjenih z zahodno dieto, razlikuje od strukture in ultrastrukture pri kontrolnih osebkih. V ta namen smo opravili raziskavo na 10 miših, pri čemer smo polovico živali hranili z zahodno dieto, preostala polovica živali pa je bila hranjenih s standardno dieto ad libitum. Po 8 tednih smo živali usmrtili in s pomočjo laparoskopije odvzeli vzorce jeter. Pripravili smo poltanke in ultratanke tkivne rezine, ki smo jih analizirali. Z raziskavo smo potrdili razlike v strukturi in ultrastrukturi jetrnih celic med normalno prehranjenimi mišmi in mišmi, hranjenimi z zahodno dieto. Miši hranjene z zahodno dieto so imele v jetrnih celicah več lipidnih kapelj. Opazili smo dva tipa steatoze, mikro- in makrovezikularno steatozo. Na ultrastrukturnem nivoju smo opazili tudi spremembe v obliki in velikosti mitohondrijev. V mnogih primerih je bil matriks mitohondrijev kondenziran, kriste pa razširjene. Opazili smo tudi avtofagijo in nekatere strukturne spremembe, ki kažejo na nekrozo jetrnih celic.Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most widespread chronic liver disease, which is caused by lipid overload. It is related to food with a high carbohydrate and fat content - the Western pattern diet, which is today progressively becoming more common. The purpose of the study was to find out whether the structure and ultrastructure of liver cells of animal fed with Western diet differs from the structure and ultrastructure of cells of the control group. We took mice as experimental models, the first half of them has been fed with the Western diet and the second half with a standard diet ad libitum. After eight weeks, animals were killed and a small amount of liver tissue has been obtained from them by laparoscopy. Thin and ultra-thin mouse liver slices were then analyzed with microscope. The analysis has shown that the structure of liver cells of mice fed with the Western diet is different from cells of the control group of mice. Liver tissue of mice fed with Western diet contained large amount of lipid droplets. We noticed two types of steatosis, micro and macro vesicular steatosis. By examining the liver cells structure of mice fed with Western diet we noticed changes in shape and size of mitochondria. In many cases we also noticed condensed matrix, extended cristae, autophagy and some other structures that indicate a liver cells necrosis