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. 2021 Aug 31;12:739025. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.739025

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Diet-induced obese mice experience liver damage and have elevated levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines. (A) Weights at time of infection. To ensure mice fed the high fat diet were obese prior to infection, female (wt n=28 and ob n=27) and male (wt n=20 and ob n=27) mice were weighed. Both female and male ob mice weighed significantly more than wt counterparts (p<0.0001). (B–D) Serum liver enzyme levels. Liver function was monitored by measuring serum levels of (B) alkaline phosphatase (ALKP), (C) alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and (D) aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in wt female (n=5), ob female (n=5), wt male (n=8) and ob male (n=6) mice. All liver enzyme levels tested were detected at significantly higher amounts in ob mice when compared to wt mice, and numerous ob mice displayed enzyme levels outside of the normal range for a mouse (as indicated by the dotted lines). When comparing ALKP levels in ob versus wt females, p=0.0079, while p=0.0127 for ob versus wt males. When comparing ALT levels, p=0.0079 for ob versus wt females, while p=0.0007 for ob versus wt males. When comparing AST levels, p=0.0079 for ob versus wt females, while p=0.0080 for ob versus wt males. (E–G) Circulating inflammatory cytokine levels. qRT-PCR was used to characterize expression of three inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β), in the blood of naïve wt and ob female (n=5 and n=6, respectively) and male (n=8 and n=8) mice. In each instance, inflammatory cytokine levels were significantly higher in ob mice when compared to wt counterparts. Additionally, overall, inflammation was higher in female mice when compared to male mice. (E) TNF-α expression: p=0.0043 for ob versus wt females, p=0.0047 for ob versus wt males, p=0.0080 for ob females versus ob males and p=0.0109 for wt female versus wt males. (F) IL-6 expression: p=0.0303 for ob versus wt females, p=0.0045 for ob versus wt males, p=0.0533 for ob females versus ob males and p=0.0109 for wt female versus wt males. (G) IL-1β expression: p=0.0303 for ob versus wt females, p=0.0499 for ob versus wt males, p=0.0127 for ob females versus ob males and p=0.0109 for wt female versus wt males. Statistical significance was determined by Mann-Whitney test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001, ns, not significant.