Researchers have highlighted the major role of a protein in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or fatty liver disease.
- Between 10 and 20% of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), or fatty liver disease, develop an advanced form of the disease called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH. Researchers have just highlighted the major role of a protein, NOX4, whose levels change depending on the progression of the disease.
- Inhibition of NOX4 protein in obese mice led to serious liver damage and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Conversely, when NOX4 levels were artificially increased, mice were protected against NASH and liver damage.
- It is possible, according to researchers, to naturally strengthen NOX4 levels, and thus prevent NASH and other diseases, through physical activity and diet.
The global increase in obesity and diabetes has led to an epidemic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), or fatty liver disease, which affects 25 to 30% of the world’s population, and 20% of French people. Among people affected by this excessive accumulation of fat in the liver, between 10 and 20% develop an advanced form of the disease called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH, which can progress to cirrhosis or even liver cancer, and which increases the risk cardiovascular.
Why some patients with NAFLD remain relatively healthy and others progress to life-threatening disease has long been a mystery. A new study, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigationhowever, has just provided some answers, and could well open up therapeutic perspectives.
A protein that protects against the development of NASH
Researchers at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University in Australia have highlighted the key role of a protein called NADPH Oxidase 4, or “NOX4”, in fatty liver disease. By conducting experiments on mice, they observed that NOX4 levels change as the disease progresses: they increase in the early stages, when fat begins to accumulate, to protect the liver, but they decrease at as the disease worsens.
The scientists then found that inhibiting the NOX4 protein in obese mice led to serious liver damage and ultimately caused non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Conversely, when they artificially increased NOX4 levels in mice, they were protected against NASH and liver damage. If the mechanisms that govern the transition to NASH are “remained unclear”this discovery opens “a new therapeutic approach for a disease whose prevalence is expected to increase by 63% from 2015 to 2030”write the researchers in a communicated.
Sport and diet to prevent fatty liver disease
In the meantime, it is possible to naturally prevent the risk of fatty liver disease. “Previous studies have shown that elevation of NOX4 levels in skeletal muscle or in the heart associated with physical activity protects against damage, promotes muscle/cardiac function, and prevents metabolic decline associated with aging”according to scientists.
Likewise, compounds that enhance NOX4 activity can be “very beneficial, because not only do they prevent the development of NASH, but they also improve skeletal and cardiac function, as well as metabolic health”. Such compounds can be found in particular in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli or cauliflower.
