Seven myths about strength training in women
24 March, 2023Call to obtain the R3 certificate as a researcher in accordance with the provisions of the Science, Technology and Innovation Law
27 March, 2023
A team of researchers from the University of Zaragoza, the University of Cambridge and the Lozano Blesa Clinical Hospital presents the result of the administration of squalene to pigs that had developed fatty liver with inflammation (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis)
This work, which opens a new challenge in the diagnosis of liver diseases, is published in the prestigious Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.
This study is led by Jesús de la Osada, professor of Biochemistry at Unizar, and researcher at the IA2, the IIS Aragón and the CIBER of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN).
A research led by the University of Zaragoza has confirmed in a model porcine the power of squalene, components of virgin olive oil, to control the fatty liver, a pathology increasingly common in human. The prestigious magazine Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry now publishes the result of this work, carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Zaragoza, the University of Cambridge and the Lozano Blesa Clinical Hospital, lead by Jesus of the Bold, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology and researcher at the University of Zaragoza in the University Institute of Agri-Food Research of Aragon (IA2, UNIZAR-CITA joint center), in the Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragon) and principal investigator of the CIBER of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN). Squalene is the main source of fat in the Mediterranean diet, and previous studies by the group had shown that this compound improved liver metabolism in mice and rabbits. To these results we must add the fact that squalene accumulates in large quantities in the liver of sharks and that they live more than 200 years. These researchers developed a porcine model of steatohepatitis (fatty liver with inflammation) by using a diet steatotic, rich in saturated fat, cholesterol and fructose, among other components. The study revealed that the administration for one month of a 0,5% squalene supplement in a diet rich in saturated fat, cholesterol and fructose, among other components, it did not influence the cholesterol content or the amount of fiber in the liver, but led to hepatic accumulation of squalene and a decrease in triglyceride content and the area of lipid droplets in this organ. These last two parameters indicate a improvement of the injury. In human medicine, one of the criteria used to establish the diagnosis of steatohepatitis is the presence of globose hepatocytes (ballooning), the larger the injury, the worse the prognosis. In our study, Surprisingly, balloonization increased and was directly associated with higher hepatic squalene content. The work used a state-of-the-art analysis of lipids, known as lipidomics, which allowed analyzing 467 different lipids both in the liver and in the plasma of the animals studied. An increase in specific lipids, such as a ceramide and three species of phosphatidylcholines, was observed in the liver of those who consumed squalene. As opposed, others decreased, such as a specific cardiolipin and several types of triglycerides. In plasma, squalene administration increased a non-inflammatory interleukin and also modified the plasma lipidome, increasing certain triglycerides and decreasing non-esterified saturated fatty acids (NEFA). The result of these cutting-edge analyzes suggests that the contribution of squalene is relieving steatohepatitis, despite the negative sign that the increase in hepatocyte ballooning would imply. These facts raise a new challenge in the diagnosis of liver diseases considering that the accumulation of squalene produces ballooning of the hepatocytes without this leading to a worsening of the development of the disease. The team of researchers is made up of: Luis V. Herrera-Marcos, Roberto Martínez-Beamonte, Carmen Arnal, Cristina Barranquero, Juan J. Puente-Lanzarote, Tania Herrero-Continente, José M. Lou-Bonafonte, Gonzalo Gonzalo-Romeo, Gabriele Mocciaro, Benjamin Jenkins, Joaquín C Surra, María J. Rodríguez-Yoldi, Juan Carlos Burillo, Roberto Lasheras, Agustín García-Gil, Antonio Güemes, Albert Koulman and Jesús de la Osada. The participating institutions are: Aragon Agri-Food Institute (IA2) of the University of Zaragoza, Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón), Lozano Blesa University Clinical Hospital, Agro-environmental Laboratory of the Government of Aragon, CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition of the Carlos III Health Institute and University of Cambridge. Scientific article LV Herrera-Marcos, R. Martínez-Beamonte, Carmen Arnal, C. Barranquero, JJ Puente-Lanzarote, T. Herrero-Continente, JM Lou-Bonafonte, G. Gonzalo-Romeo, G. Mocciaro, B. Jenkins, JC Surra , MJ Rodríguez-Yoldi, JC Burillo, R. Lasheras, A. García-Gil, A. Güemes, A. Koulman and J. Osada. Dietary squalene supplementation decreases triglyceride species and modifies phospholipid lipidomic profile in the liver of a porcine model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. J Nutr Biochem 2023, 112: 109207.
