The Journal of nutritional biochemistryNov 28, 2017

Dietary omega-3 and omega-6 fats influence liver disease

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Updated Apr 4, 2026

Abstract

Mice fed an omega-6 diet exhibited significantly higher body and liver weight compared to those on a long chain omega-3 diet.

No significant difference in diet consumption was observed between the isocaloric, pair-fed groups.
Mice on the omega-6 diet had significantly higher total lipid levels and abdominal fat deposits.
Plasma and liver analysis revealed that mice on the omega-6 diet contained significantly more arachidonic acid, while eicosapentaenoic acid was not detected and docosahexaenoic acid levels were significantly lower.
Histopathologic analyses showed increased macrovesicular steatosis, extramedullary myelopoiesis, and hepatocyte apoptosis in mice consuming the omega-6 diet.
The findings indicate that dietary composition of PUFAs may influence hepatic pathology and inflammation.

Simplified

Recent evidence has suggested that dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) modulate inflammation; however, few studies have focused on the pathobiology of PUFA using isocaloric and isolipidic diets and it is unclear if the associated pathologies are due to dietary PUFA composition, lipid metabolism or obesity, as most studies compare diets fed ad libitum. Our studies used isocaloric and isolipidic liquid diets (35% of calories from fat), with differing compositions of omega (ω)-6 or long chain (Lc) ω-3 PUFA that were pair-fed and assessed hepatic pathology, inflammation and lipid metabolism. Consistent with an isocaloric, pair-fed model we observed no significant difference in diet consumption between the groups. In contrast, the body and liver weight, total lipid level and abdominal fat deposits were significantly higher in mice fed an ω-6 diet. An analysis of the fatty acid profile in plasma and liver showed that mice on the ω-6 diet had significantly more arachidonic acid (AA) in the plasma and liver, whereas, in these mice ω-3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) were not detected and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was significantly lower. Histopathologic analyses documented that mice on the ω-6 diet had a significant increase in macrovesicular steatosis, extramedullary myelopoiesis (EMM), apoptotic hepatocytes and decreased glycogen storage in lobular hepatocytes, and hepatocyte proliferation relative to mice fed the Lc ω-3 diet. Together, these results support PUFA dietary regulation of hepatic pathology and inflammation with implications for enteral feeding regulation of steatosis and other hepatic lesions.

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Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Dietary omega-3 and omega-6 fats influence liver disease

Abstract

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