Hepatic effects of rosiglitazone in rats with the metabolic syndrome

Rats given fructose-enriched diet develop many characteristics of the human metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. In this study, we characterized the hepatic effects of rosiglitazone in fructose-enriched diet rats. Rats were randomly divided into three groups. One group was maintained on standard rat chow diet for 6 weeks, whereas the other two groups were given fructose-enriched diet for 6 weeks. Four weeks after the initiation of fructose-enriched diet, one of the fructose-enriched diet groups was also given rosiglitazone (10 mg/kg/day) for an additional 2 weeks. Rosiglitazone administration to the fructose-enriched diet rats was associated with decreases in the following parameters: blood pressure (-17%), plasma triglycerides (-62%), hepatic total lipids (-19%), hepatic triglycerides (-61%), hepatic malondialdehyde (-88%), glutathione reductase activity (-84%). An increase in adiponectin plasma levels (+329%), hepatic phospholipids (+46%), hepatic alpha-tocopherol concentrations (+24%) and hepatic paraoxonase activity (+68%) was observed. Rosiglitazone caused a decrease in hepatic macrovesicular steatosis score but no change in hepatic fibrosis. Administration of rosiglitazone, to rats with the metabolic syndrome has limited hepatic favourable effects: it improves hepatic lipid metabolism, decreases macrovesicular steatosis and improves some of the hepatic oxidative-anti-oxidative milieu but has no effect on hepatic fibrosis.