Rationale and objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility of detecting a fatty liver after binge drinking in an animal model using (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS), dual-energy computed tomography (DECT), biochemistry, and the gold standard of histology.
Materials and methods: In 20 inbred female Lewis rats, an alcoholic fatty liver was induced; 20 rats served as controls. To simulate binge drinking, each rat was given a dose of 9.3 g/kg body weight 50% ethanol twice, with 24 hours between applications. Forty-eight hours after the first injection, DECT and (1)H-MRS were performed. Fat content as well as triglycerides were also determined histologically and biochemically, respectively. To assess specific liver enzymes, blood was drawn from the orbital venous plexus.
Results: In all 20 animals in the experimental group, fatty livers were detected using (1)H-MRS, DECT, and biochemical and histologic analysis. The spectroscopic fat/water ratio and the biochemical determination were highly correlated (r = 0.892, P < .05). A significant correlation was found between (1)H-MRS and histologic analysis (r = 0.941, P < .001). Also, a positive linear correlation was found between the dual-energy computed tomographic density of ΔHU and the biochemical (r = 0.751, P < .05) and histologic (r = 0.786, P < .001) analyses.
Conclusions: Quantification of hepatic fat content on (1)H-MRS showed high correlation with histologic and biochemical steatosis determination. In comparison to DECT, it is more suitable to reflect the severity of acute fatty liver.
Copyright © 2011 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.