Rapamycin aggravates experimental non alcoholic steatohepatitis in mice

Aims: The increasing incidence of the metabolic syndrome not only contributes to a larger number of obese patients developing non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) after liver transplantation (LTx), but also led to a rising number of fatty grafts used for LTx. Rapamycin is a common immunosuppressant after organ transplantation. Notably, the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin has potent antifibrotic properties and affects lipid accumulation. Therefore, we hypothesized whether rapamycin would attenuate hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrogenesis in an experimental model of NASH. Methods: Mice were allocated into four ex…