2298-PUB: Estradiol Protects Female ApoE KO Mice against Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Lifestyle and increased consumption of high fat diets contribute greatly to the development of obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes (DM2), and cardiovascular diseases, which are less prevalent in young women than in men of the same age or postmenopausal women. One of the consequences of the Western lifestyle and high fat diet is Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and its aggressive form, Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), which can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer (HCC) and is rapidly becoming the leading cause for end-stage liver disease or liver transplantation. Therefore, we evaluated if female mice were protected against Western Diet (WD)-induced NASH in apolipoprotein E (ApoE) KO animals. Female ApoE KO mice ovariectomized (OVX) or sham operated (SHAM) were fed a WD for 7 weeks. Whole-body fat was increased by ∼65% (P