The relationship of fructose consumption with MDA levels in rat liver and its effect on the expression levels of COX-2 and NRF-2 genes

Abstract

The use of fructose as converted sugar in the food industry is quite common. Steatosis and degeneration occur due to the use of fructose in the liver where sugar is primarily metabolized. However, there is not enough information about the level of MDA and the expression levels of COX-2 and NRF-2 in the liver with low and high fructose consumption. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of fructose solutions on the expression levels of COX-2 and NRF-2 genes as well as MDA levels in the livers of rats. In this study, the effects of different fructose solution [F15; (15%) F30; (30%) and F60; (60%)] consumption for 10 weeks in rats on the MDA levels also COX-2 and NRF-2 genes expression levels in the liver were investigated. The MDA level and COX-2 gene expression level in F60 group were higher than the control and other groups (P<0.01). These findings suggest that MDA elevation in the liver may be due to inflammation. However, no change was observed in total NRF-2 gene expression. Also, a positive correlation was found between levels of COX-2 and NRF-2 expressions in F30 (0.965; P<0.01). These findings may be attributed to inflammation of liver. This may have been due to an increase in nuclear formation of NRF-2. As a result, the use of high concentration fructose solution has been found to increase the level of MDA in the liver due to inflammation.