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Background. Chronic alcohol use leads to alcoholic liver fibrosis. Today, a sufficient number of scientific studies are focused on the pathometabolic mechanisms of liver fibrosis development and formation in animal models. The purpose of our study was to investigate structural changes and liver stiffness, biochemical markers of fibrosis in rats with chronic alcoholic liver injury (CALI) modeling and to evaluate the changes of these parameters with different types of treatment. Materials and methods. Eighty-nine rats were divided into experimental groups depending on the duration of alcohol exposure (4 and 12 weeks) and the corresponding type of correction (metadoxine and prebiotic). Results. When modeling CALI at week 4, morphological studies revealed moderate large-droplet fatty hepatosis and mild fibrosis in the central venule of the liver lobes. After 12 weeks of forced alcoholization, with more pronounced general intoxication, hepatocytes have dystrophic changes such as appearance of single or grouped dystrophic cells in the parenchyma. A combination of protein and fatty dystrophy was more common. Elastography allowed to detect structural changes in the liver at the early stages of fibrosis formation when modeling CALI for 12 weeks. There were also changes in the levels of biochemical parameters: free and protein-bound hydroxyproline, glycosaminoglycans. According to the results of elastography, liver stiffness in rats increased maximally after prebiotic correction in all approaches compared to the controls. After correction of CALI, both early- and long-term, fibrosis markers normalized in rat liver homogenate after administration of metadoxine and prebiotic. After prebiotic correction at week 12 of alcoholization, we observed a 12% decrease in liver parenchymal stiffness in the CALI modeling group and a 19% decrease (p < 0.05) in the placebo group. After correction with metadoxine, there was a 1.5-fold increase in free hydroxyproline levels in rat liver homogenate at week 12 and a 1.2-fold increase in glycosaminoglycans (p < 0.05) at week 4 compared to the CALI modeling group. Conclusions. Long-term alcoholization of animals led to the development of dystrophic changes in hepatocytes, protein and fatty degeneration, and an increase in the number of capillaries. Against this background, liver stiffness and biochemical parameters changed. After correction with metadoxine and prebiotic, changes in the liver stiffness and fibrosis markers were observed at week 12 of CALI modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is an important cause of global liver disease characterized by diffuse hepatocytes with hepatocellular ballooning, intrahepatic inflammation and progressive fibrosis. A relevant task is the study of the relationship between content of free fatty acids and serum cytokine profile in patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases. A total of 74 people with chronic diffuse liver diseases were examined, including 32 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 22 patients with alcoholic liver disease, 20 patients with toxic hepatitis. Chromatographic examination of free fatty acids (FFA) in blood serum was carried out using a Chromatek-Crystal 5000 gas chromatography system. Patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases had a significant increase in the level of unsaturated free fatty acids (USFA) in cases of toxic hepatitis (by 2.92 times, P > 0.05) and a decrease in the level of saturated free fatty acids (SFA) in cases of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (by 1.52 times, P > 0.05) compared with the control group; the balance between omega-6 and omega-3 PUFA significantly changed due to increase in linoleic acid in patients with alcoholic liver disease and toxic hepatitis (by 1.91 and 2.11 times, respectively) and arachidonic acid in patients with toxic hepatitis (by 1.78 times). The level of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were determined. In patients suffering chronic diffuse liver diseases there were multidirectional changes in the composition of free fatty acids of blood serum: a significant increase in the level of USFA, levels ІL-6 in toxic hepatitis; a decrease in the level of SFA, levels ІL-6 and TNF-α during non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; increased TNF-α production, ІL-6 during alcoholic liver disease compared with the control group. Significant change occurred in the balance between omega-6 and omega-3 PUFA due to increase in linoleic acid in cases of alcoholic liver disease and toxic hepatitis and arachidonic acid in cases of toxic hepatitis. The revealed correlations support the hypothesis that inflammation and lipotoxicity of FFA of blood serum contribute to the development and progression of structural changes in the liver. However, the pathomechanism of lipid metabolism and cytokine regulation with different etiological factors have their own characteristics, which should be taken into account when treating patients of these groups. Prospects for further research: these parameters may be used for serologic biomarkers of liver disease and development and implementation of the ratio between FFA and cytokines for the differential diagnosis of chronic diffuse liver disease in medical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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