Abstract
Feeding interleukin-4 (IL-4) deficient C57BL/6 LDL receptor (LDLr)-/- mice a modified diet to investigate the role of this cytokine in cholesterol metabolism led to an unexpected phenotype. IL-4-/- → LDLr-/- mice had enlarged gallbladders and an increased mortality that was preceded by acute body weight loss. To determine if IL-4 deficiency accounted for these findings, C57BL/6 IL-4+/+ and IL-4-/- mice were fed either a normal or modified diet. IL-4 deficiency did not alter bile composition or cause liver toxicity in mice fed a fat-enriched diet. Following 8 weeks of feeding a fat-enriched diet, no gallstones were detected in IL-4+/+ mice, and only 20% had cholesterol crystals. In contrast, IL-4-/- mice had a 100% incidence of gallstones and cholesterol crystals. IL-4-/- deficiency also increased serum concentrations of bilirubin following feeding a fat-enriched diet. Therefore, these studies revealed an unexpected finding that IL-4 deficiency predisposes to gallstone formation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 768-771 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Lipid Research |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 5 |
State | Published - 2002 |
Keywords
- Bone marrow transplant
- Cholesterol
- LDL receptor
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Endocrinology
- Cell Biology