Fish oil feeding reverses hepatomegaly and disrupted hepatic function due to the lack of FXR signaling.

Mice lacking farnesoid X receptor (FXR) are used as a model for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease because their livers exhibit hepatomegaly, hepatic steatosis, and hepatic inflammation. The influence of fish oil feeding on hepatomegaly and disrupted hepatic function was investigated using female Fxr-null mice and wild-type mice fed a fish oil diet (2% fish oil and 2% corn oil) or a control diet (4% corn oil) for 4 weeks. Hepatic n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels, including 22:6 n-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and 20:5 n-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) were significantly higher in the fish oil group than those in the control group of Fxr-null mice and wild-type mice.