Fatty liver disease is an increased build-up of fat in the liver.
Major risk factors include obesity and type 2 diabetes, though it’s also associated with excessive alcohol consumption.
In a study from the University of Michigan, scientists found a new therapy for fatty liver disease.
In those with fatty liver disease, a person’s fat goes to their liver instead of their fat tissue, either because of an absence of fat depots, which is seen in the rare genetic disease lipodystrophy, or because the depots are too full, which is seen in people with obesity.
One-third of these people will go on to develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH—an advanced form of fatty liver disease brought on by progressive inflammation and scarring in the organ.
In 2002, researchers found that patients with severe lipodystrophy lack leptin, a hormone that helps curb appetite and control weight gain.
When given leptin as a supplement, the patient’s serious metabolic abnormalities like NASH improved substantially.
Almost two decades later, the research team found that whether from a leptin deficiency or the presence of partial lipodystrophy, patients with NASH and relatively low leptin levels can mobilize the extra fat in their liver, out of their liver, and help reverse their condition by undergoing leptin therapy.
This work showed that leptin is an important signal in regulating fat deposition in the liver, and reversing fat deposition and its subsequent NASH.
The team examined nine male patients with NASH and relatively low leptin levels (less than 9 ng/ml) and 23 patients with both partial lipodystrophy and NASH. Both groups received leptin therapy in the form of metreleptin for one year.
The trials consisted of male patients because the team found that 35-40% of the men that had leptin levels measured had levels less than the twenty-fifth percentile of their body weight, making them ideal study candidates.
The team says high levels of leptin, seen in obesity, can actually be causative of NASH so it was important to carefully select trial participants for low levels.
Both groups were found to have reduced fat in the liver and lower NASH scores after 12 months of leptin therapy. The patients also had improved insulin sensitivity and body weight.
The findings are only applicable to leptin, but the team thinks other molecules or treatments that activate leptin in the body could be of focus in future studies in an attempt to widen the therapeutic window for these patients.
After obesity is established, there’s little gain in giving someone leptin.
However, a patient in the early overweight state may get value from undergoing leptin therapy, inspiring the research team to study leptin as a preventive weight control option in those at risk of crossing the obesity threshold and developing more fat in the liver.
If you care about liver health, please read studies about the cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and how to prevent liver disease with diet and lifestyle changes.
For more information about liver health, please see recent studies about how to fight against fatty liver, and results showing this compound in vegetables can protect your liver health.
The study was conducted by Baris Akinci et al and published in Med: Cell Press.
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