Changes in the liver parenchyma in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease depending on gender

Background. The development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease depending on gender was studied in a laboratory animal model (white rats). Materials and methods. The study was done on 24 white non-inbred rats. It was divided into four groups (n=6): two control (males and females) and two experimental (males and females). Animals of the control group ate natural food for rodents. Animals of the experimental groups were kept on a high-calorie diet for 4 months, 20 % of which was beef fat, drinking – 10 % fructose solution. Histological preparations of the liver were prepared according to the standard histological technique, fixed in 10 % neutral formalin, embedded in paraffin. Morphometric measurements of the stromal area were carried out on micropreparations stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The data were statistically processed using the Mann-Whitney criterion. Results. It was revealed that long-term high-calorie diet causes a morphological picture of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the liver of white rats. Pathological changes revealed in the experimental group of females are more pronounced than in males and correspond to the steatohepatitis. They have inflammatory lymphohistiocytic infiltration and a larger amount of stroma. In the liver of males in the experimental group, a steatosis was noted, where the processes of fatty degeneration of hepatocytes predominate. In this group, there are also fibrosis processes and an increase in the area of the stroma, but it is inferior to those in the group of females. Conclusions. The obtained results prove that long-term highcalorie diet leads to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, while female white rats demonstrate a more pronounced expression of inflammation and an increase in the area of the stroma of the liver.