Gender Differences in Response to Prolonged Every-Other-Day Feeding on the Proliferation and Apoptosis of Hepatocytes in Mice

Intermittent fasting decreases glucose and insulin levels and increases insulin sensitivity and lifespan. Decreased food intake influences the liver. Previous studies have shown gender differences in response to various types of caloric restriction, including every-other-day (EOD) feeding, in humans and rodents. Our goal was to show the influence of prolonged EOD feeding on the morphology, proliferation and apoptosis of livers from male and female mice. After nine months of an EOD diet, the livers from male and female mice were collected. We examined their morphology on histological slides using the Hematoxilin and Eosine (H_E) method and Hoechst staining of cell nuclei to evaluate the nuclear area of hepatocytes. We also evaluated the expression of mRNA for proto-oncogens, pro-survival proteins and apoptotic markers using Real Time Polimerase Chain Reaction (PCR). We noted increased lipid content in the livers of EOD fed female mice. EOD feeding lead to a decrease of proliferation and apoptosis in the livers of female and male mice, which suggest that tissue maintenance occurred during EOD feeding. Our experiment revealed sex-specific expression of mRNA for proto-oncogenes and pro-survival and pro-apoptotic genes in mice as well as sex-specific responses to the EOD treatment.