Nearly one in three people around the world have a condition called metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MASLD).
This condition causes fat to build up in the liver and can lead to serious health problems, but there haven’t been many effective treatments—until now.
A group of scientists in South Korea has made a major discovery.
They found that a small molecule in the body, called microRNA-93 (miR-93), plays a big role in making fatty liver disease worse.
Even more exciting, they found that vitamin B3, a safe and already-approved medicine, can reduce the harmful effects of this molecule.
This research was done by a team led by Professor Jang Hyun Choi at UNIST, along with Professor Hwayoung Yun from Pusan National University and Professor Neung Hwa Park from Ulsan University Hospital.
They found that miR-93 is highly active in people and animals with fatty liver disease. This molecule turns off a helpful gene in the liver called SIRT1. That gene helps control how the liver handles fats.
When miR-93 blocks SIRT1, fat builds up in the liver, causing inflammation and damage. But when researchers removed miR-93 in mice using special gene tools, the mice had healthier livers with less fat and better blood sugar levels.
The team then tested 150 different medicines that are already approved for use in humans. The one that worked best to reduce miR-93 was niacin—also known as vitamin B3. When mice with fatty liver disease were given vitamin B3, their miR-93 levels dropped and SIRT1 started working again. This helped the liver process fats better and improved liver health overall.
The researchers say this discovery opens the door to new ways of treating fatty liver disease using existing, safe medicines. Since vitamin B3 is already used to treat high cholesterol, it may also help people with fatty liver disease—especially if used in combination with other treatments.
This study is the first in the world to clearly show how miR-93 affects fatty liver disease and how a common vitamin might fight it. It gives hope to millions of people suffering from this widespread liver condition.
The study is published in Metabolism.
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