Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 14, 2016; 22(22): 5165-5172
Published online Jun 14, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i22.5165
Apoptosis induced by a low-carbohydrate and high-protein diet in rat livers
Maria Emília L Monteiro, Analucia R Xavier, Felipe L Oliveira, Porphirio JS Filho, Vilma B Azeredo
Maria Emília L Monteiro, Department of Internal Medicine, Medicine College, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, RJ 24030-210, Brazil
Analucia R Xavier, Department of Pathology, Medicine College, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, RJ 24030-210, Brazil
Felipe L Oliveira, Biomedical Science Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-913, Brazil
Porphirio JS Filho, Department of Pathology, Medicine College, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, RJ 24030-210, Brazil
Vilma B Azeredo, Department of Nutrition and Dietitian, Nutrition College, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, RJ 24030-210, Brazil
Author contributions: Monteiro MEL, Xavier AR, and Azeredo VB contributed equally by designing and performing the research and writing the paper; Oliveira FL and Filho PJS analyzed the data and wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: The study was authorized and approved by the Director of Nutrition College of Fluminense Federal University and by the professor responsible for the Experimental Nutrition Laboratory of the same institution.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The study received prior approval by the Institutional Review Board for Animal Research (CEUA), Fluminense Federal University, case number 648, February 27, 2015. It was designed based on the determinations of the Brazilian law for research with animals (law number 11.794, October 2008).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicting interests.
Data sharing statement: The authors assign to the journal the rights to edit, publish, reproduce, distribute in printed and on-line version, and include in indexing or research bases the present work, hereby submitted.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Maria Emília L Monteiro, MD, MSc, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Medicine College, Fluminense Federal University, Rua Mario Sardinha, 46, São Francisco, Niterói, RJ 24360-007, Brasil. lhcastroguedes@terra.com.br
Telephone: +55-21-996358400
Received: January 19, 2016
Peer-review started: January 19, 2016
First decision: February 18, 2016
Revised: March 1, 2016
Accepted: March 14, 2016
Article in press: March 14, 2016
Published online: June 14, 2016
Processing time: 135 Days and 14.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Obesity is a serious and growing health problem. A high-protein, high-fat, and low-carbohydrate diet known as the Atkins diet has been adopted since the 1970s. Many people adhere to this diet in an attempt to lose weight, and it has recently been introduced for children with difficult-to-control seizures and elderly suffering from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The benefits and effects of the Atkins diet remain unclear, especially in hepatic metabolism. Since the primary metabolic reactions involving macronutrients occur in the liver, it is essential to understand the potential hepatic lesions that can result from dietary modifications.