In a study from the University of Virginia, scientists have discovered a key trigger for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a mysterious condition that causes fat to build up in the liver for no clear reason.
The new insights help explain the condition in younger people and could lead to the first treatment for the most common liver disease in the world.
The culprit is the wrinkles forming in the cellular compartment that contains our DNA.
Previous research suggested that these wrinkly cellular nuclei could be involved in common metabolic diseases such as diabetes and fatty liver disease and even aging itself.
The new results bolster those findings and could lead to treatments targeting the wrinkles to stop the fatty liver disease—and possibly slow or reverse aging.
Fatty liver disease is common among people who consume large amounts of alcohol—the excess storage of fat in the liver is a red flag that a person is drinking heavily.
But non-alcoholic fatty liver disease strikes people who drink little or not at all, especially older people and people with type 2 diabetes. Approximately 40% of people over age 70 have the condition.
For many people, the fatty liver disease causes no symptoms. They may not even be aware they have it. But for others, it can cause weakness, fatigue, and abdominal pain, diminishing quality of life. Unfortunately, there is no treatment.
Doctors have struggled to understand what triggers the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, but the new discovery suggests it may be caused, at least in part, by malfunctions inside the “hard drives” that contain our cells’ operating instructions.
These changes start within the cell nucleus, where our chromosomes are stored, and alter the activity of certain genes—ultimately leading to fat accumulation in the liver.
The new research suggests the fault begins in a portion of the nucleus called the lamina.
The lamina acts as a tether between the nuclear membrane and the genetic material contained within, called chromatin. The formation of wrinkles in the lamina, affects the activity of genes that control the storage of fats.
When these genes become hyperactive, the liver becomes stuffed with excess fats, leading to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
To verify their findings, the researchers looked at liver cells collected from younger human patients, ages 21-51, with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The scientists found exactly what they expected: wrinkly lamina. This helps explain why the condition can strike people of any age, the researchers say and should be useful for identifying those at risk.
The findings could lead to novel treatments aimed at restoring the function of the nuclear lamina to control aberrant genes and reverse fatty liver in young patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or aged people.
If you care about liver health, please read studies about dairy foods linked to liver cancer, and coffee drinkers may halve their risk of liver cancer.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about new option for older people with liver cancer, and results showing Mediterranean diet could cut fatty liver disease by half.
The study was conducted by Irina M. Bochkis et al and published in the journal Genome Research.
Copyright © 2023 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
