Prevention of Obesity-Induced Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Using Grape Pomace Extract

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of grape pomace extracts on obesity-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in rats. To this end, forty male Wistar rats were assigned into four groups and were fed regular chow, high-fat diet, high-fat diet plus low-dose grape pomace extract (0.5%, w/w) or high-dose (2%, w/w) grape pomace extract (GPE) for 16 weeks. We observed that lipid concentrations (triglyceride and cholesterol) were elevated in the plasma and liver in rats on a high-fat diet and also on those receiving 2% GPE with high-fat diet. These changes were resulting from the downregulation of lipogenic enzymes and stimulation of hepatic lipolysis. A high-fat diet-mediated increase in hepatic oxidative stress was reduced by GPE. The plasma levels of proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 were significantly decreased by GPE. These results suggest that the supplementation with GPE may ameliorate adiposity, hepatic steatosis, oxidative stress and inflammation in high-fat diet-fed rats and potentially retard the development of obesity-induced NAFLD.