Discrimination of steatosis and NASH in mice using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common cause of hepatic dysfunction. The disease spectrum ranges from hepatic steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The aim of this study was to identify metabolic differences in murine models of simple hepatic steatosis and NASH for the distinction of these NAFLD stages. For 12 weeks, male BALB/c mice were fed either a control or two different high-fat diets leading to hepatic steatosis and NASH, respectively. Metabolic differences were determined by independent component analysis (ICA) of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of lipophilic and hydrop…