by Keyword: High-fat diet
López-Soldado, I, Guinovart, JJ, Duran, J, (2023). Active Glycogen Synthase in the Liver Prevents High-Fat Diet-Induced Glucose Intolerance, Decreases Food Intake, and Lowers Body Weight International Journal Of Molecular Sciences 24, 2574 
Many lines of evidence demonstrate a correlation between liver glycogen content and food intake. We previously demonstrated that mice overexpressing protein targeting to glycogen (PTG) specifically in the liver—which have increased glycogen content in this organ—are protected from high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity by reduced food intake. However, the use of PTG to increase liver glycogen implies certain limitations. PTG stimulates glycogen synthesis but also inhibits the enzyme responsible for glycogen degradation. Furthermore, as PTG is a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), which regulates many cellular functions, its overexpression could have side effects beyond the regulation of glycogen metabolism. Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether the direct activation of glycogen synthesis, without affecting its degradation or other cellular functions, has the same effects. To this end, we generated mice overexpressing a non-inactivatable form of glycogen synthase (GS) specifically in the liver (9A-MGSAlb mice). Control and 9a-MGSAlb mice were fed a standard diet (SD) or HFD for 16 weeks. Glucose tolerance and feeding behavior were analyzed. 9A-MGSAlb mice showed an increase in hepatic glycogen in fed and fasting conditions. When fed an HFD, these animals preserved their hepatic energy state, had a reduced food intake, and presented a lower body weight and fat mass than control animals, without changes in energy expenditure. Furthermore, 9A-MGSAlb animals showed improved glucose tolerance when fed an SD or HFD. Moreover, liver triacylglycerol levels that were increased after HFD feeding were lower in these mice. These results confirm that increased liver glycogen stores contribute to decreased appetite and improve glucose tolerance in mice fed an HFD. On the basis of our findings, strategies to preserve hepatic glycogen stores emerge as potential treatments for obesity and hyperglycemia.
JTD Keywords: accumulation, atp, attenuates obesity, expression, food intake, glucose, glycogen, glycogen synthase, high-fat diet, homeostasis, hyperglycemia, liver, mgat1, muscle, protein, ptg, Glycogen, Hepatic overexpression, Liver
Klein, S., Schierwagen, R., Uschner, F. E., Trebicka, J., (2017). Mouse and rat models of induction of hepatic fibrosis and assessment of portal hypertension 
Fibrosis (Methods in Molecular Biology) (ed. Rittié, L.), Humana Press (New York, USA) 1627, 91-116
Portal hypertension either develops due to progressive liver fibrosis or is the consequence of vascular liver diseases such as portal vein thrombosis or non-cirrhotic portal hypertension. This chapter focuses on different rodent models of liver fibrosis with portal hypertension and also in few non-cirrhotic portal hypertension models. Importantly, after the development of portal hypertension, the proper assessment of drug effects in the portal and systemic circulation should be discussed. The last part of the chapter is dedicated in these techniques to assess the in vivo hemodynamics and the ex vivo techniques of the isolated liver perfusion and vascular contractility.
JTD Keywords: Aortic ring contraction, Bile duct ligation, Carbon tetrachloride, Colored microsphere technique, High-fat diet, Isolated in situ liver perfusion, Methionine-choline-deficient diet, Partial portal vein ligation, Portal hypertension
