Decreased Hepatic and Serum Levels of IL-10 Concur with Increased Lobular Inflammation in Morbidly Obese Patients

oleh: Helena Solleiro-Villavicencio, Lucía Angélica Méndez-García, Nydia A. Ocampo-Aguilera, Itzel Baltazar-Pérez, José A. Arreola-Miranda, José A. Aguayo-Guerrero, Ana Alfaro-Cruz, Antonio González-Chávez, Miguel A. Fonseca-Sánchez, José Manuel Fragoso, Galileo Escobedo

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-05-01

Deskripsi

<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with obesity and ranges from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Accumulating evidence in animal models suggests that loss of interleukin-10 (IL-10) anti-inflammatory actions might contribute to lobular inflammation, considered one of the first steps toward NASH development. However, the role of IL-10 in lobular inflammation remains poorly explored in humans. We examined mRNA and protein levels of IL-10 in liver biopsies and serum samples from morbidly obese patients, investigating the relationship between IL-10 and lobular inflammation degree. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: We prospectively enrolled morbidly obese patients of both sexes, assessing the lobular inflammation grade by the Brunt scoring system to categorize participants into mild (<i>n</i> = 7), moderate (<i>n</i> = 19), or severe (<i>n</i> = 13) lobular inflammation groups. We quantified the hepatic mRNA expression of IL-10 by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and protein IL-10 levels in liver and serum samples by Luminex Assay. We estimated statistical differences by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s multiple comparison test. <i>Results</i>: The hepatic expression of IL-10 significantly diminished in patients with severe lobular inflammation compared with the moderate lobular inflammation group (<i>p</i> = 0.01). The hepatic IL-10 protein levels decreased in patients with moderate or severe lobular inflammation compared with the mild lobular inflammation group (<i>p</i> = 0.008 and <i>p</i> = 0.0008, respectively). In circulation, IL-10 also significantly decreased in subjects with moderate or severe lobular inflammation compared with the mild lobular inflammation group (<i>p</i> = 0.005 and <i>p</i> < 0.0001, respectively). <i>Conclusions</i>: In liver biopsies and serum samples of morbidly obese patients, the protein levels of IL-10 progressively decrease as lobular inflammation increases, supporting the hypothesis that lobular inflammation develops because of the loss of the IL-10-mediated anti-inflammatory counterbalance.