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Effect of acute beer ingestion on the liver: studies in female mice

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to assess whether the effects of acute consumption of stout or pilsner beer on the liver differ from those of plain ethanol in a mouse model.

Methods

Seven-week-old female C57BL/6J mice received either ethanol, stout or pilsner beer (ethanol content: 6 g/kg body weight) or isocaloric maltodextrin solution. Plasma alanine transaminase, markers of steatosis, lipogenesis, activation of the toll-like receptor-4 signaling cascade as well as lipid peroxidation and fibrogenesis in the liver were measured 12 h after acute ethanol or beer intake.

Results

Acute alcohol ingestion caused a marked ~11-fold increase in hepatic triglyceride accumulation in comparison to controls, whereas in mice exposed to stout and pilsner beer, hepatic triglyceride levels were increased only by ~6.5- and ~4-fold, respectively. mRNA expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c and fatty acid synthase in the liver did not differ between alcohol and beer groups. In contrast, expression of myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88, inducible nitric oxide synthases, but also the concentrations of 4-hydroxynonenal protein adducts, nuclear factor κB and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 were induced in livers of ethanol treated mice but not in those exposed to the two beers.

Conclusion

Taken together, our results suggest that acute ingestion of beer and herein especially of pilsner beer is less harmful to the liver than the ingestion of plain ethanol.

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Abbreviations

ALD:

Alcoholic liver disease

ALT:

Alanine aminotransferase

FAS:

Fatty acid synthase

4-HNE:

4-Hydroxynonenal

HGF:

Hepatocate growth factor

iNOS:

Inducible nitric oxide synthase

MyD88:

Myeloid differentiation primary response 88

NFκB:

Nuclear factor kappa B

PAI-1:

Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

αSMA:

α Smooth muscle actin

SREBP-1c:

Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c

TGFβ:

Transforming growth factor β

TLR-4:

Toll-like receptor 4

TNF α:

Tumor necrosis factor α

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Acknowledgments

Supported by “Wissenschaftsförderung der Deutschen Brauwirtschaft e.V. (B101)”. Beer was kindly provided by Kulmbacher Brauerei AG, Germany.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutritional Sciences, Model Systems of Molecular Nutrition, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Dornburger Str. 25, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Giridhar Kanuri, Marianne Landmann & Ina Bergheim

  2. Department of Nutritional Medicine (180a), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

    Sabine Wagnerberger, Eva Prigl & Stephan C. Bischoff

  3. Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Claus Hellerbrand

Authors
  1. Giridhar Kanuri
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  2. Sabine Wagnerberger
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  3. Marianne Landmann
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  4. Eva Prigl
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  5. Claus Hellerbrand
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  6. Stephan C. Bischoff
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  7. Ina Bergheim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ina Bergheim.

Additional information

Giridhar Kanuri and Sabine Wagnerberger have contributed equally to this work.

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Kanuri, G., Wagnerberger, S., Landmann, M. et al. Effect of acute beer ingestion on the liver: studies in female mice. Eur J Nutr 54, 465–474 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-014-0730-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-014-0730-z

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