Cellular markers of mule duck livers after force-feeding

The “Foie gras” or fatty liver is the result of hepatic steatosis from nutritional origin and induced by the force-feeding of palmipeds. Despite identical rearing and force-feeding conditions of ducks from the same breed, different liver weights, within a range of 500 to more than 700 g, are generally observed at the time of evisceration. To better understand the determinism of this large variability in fatty liver weights, the activity of various metabolic pathways has been explored in 4 groups of steatotic livers differing by their weights. Different analyses were performed using biochemical assays on metabolites as well as ELISA tests or enzyme activity assays. The result showed that an increase in the final liver weight is always associated with a hypoxic response and even a severe hypoxia observed in livers with the highest weights (more than 650 g). This is also combined with a rise in the cellular oxidative stress level. In addition, for the heaviest livers (more than 700 g), signs of cell death by apoptosis were also observed, while others programmed cell death pathways, such as ferroptosis or necroptosis, seemed to be nonactive.