A new international study has found that a protein called E2F2 could play a key role in preventing fatty liver disease from becoming more serious.
This discovery could help scientists create better treatments for people at risk of liver damage, liver cancer, or cirrhosis.
Fatty liver disease, also known as metabolic hepatic steatosis, is the most common long-term liver condition today. It happens when too much fat builds up in the liver in people who do not drink much alcohol.
Around 3 or 4 out of every 10 people have this disease, and the numbers are rising, especially as more people are becoming overweight or developing type 2 diabetes.
The disease can look very different from one person to another. Some people don’t get very sick, but others develop more serious problems like liver inflammation (steatohepatitis), liver scarring (cirrhosis), or even liver cancer.
In this recent study, researchers from several countries worked together and published their findings in the journal Hepatology. The research was led by Dr. Patricia Aspichueta from the University of the Basque Country in Spain.
Her team discovered that the E2F2 protein seems to act like a switch that can turn certain genes on or off. These genes are involved in how fat and bile are processed in the liver.
Bile is a substance made by the liver that helps digest fat. But in some people with fatty liver disease, bile acids build up instead of flowing out of the liver properly. This buildup can make the disease worse.
The researchers found that E2F2 increases the amount of harmful fats like cholesterol in the liver and also leads to a buildup of bile salts in the liver and bloodstream.
Dr. Aspichueta explained that some people with fatty liver disease don’t get rid of bile acids properly, and this can put them at greater risk of liver damage. Thanks to this study, scientists now have a better idea of how this happens.
They learned that E2F2 controls another molecule called miR34a-5p. This small molecule affects how the liver makes and releases both cholesterol and bile acids. If E2F2 is too active, it can throw off the balance and make the disease worse.
The exciting part of this research is that it points to a possible new treatment option. If doctors could block or reduce the activity of E2F2, they might be able to stop fatty liver disease from progressing.
But as Dr. Aspichueta pointed out, more research is needed. Blocking a protein can sometimes have side effects, and scientists need to be sure it would be safe to do so in humans.
Her team is continuing their work to better understand how E2F2 affects not just liver disease, but also heart health. That’s because many people with fatty liver disease die from heart problems.
They are also looking into how E2F2 may be involved in different types of liver cancer, including hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma, which affects the bile ducts.
In the future, the team hopes to find simple tests to see which patients have high levels of E2F2 and are most likely to get worse quickly. This could help doctors give the right treatment to the right patients before the disease becomes severe.
This study shines a light on a new area of research and offers hope for better ways to fight fatty liver disease. By learning more about proteins like E2F2, scientists are taking important steps toward preventing serious liver and heart complications.
If you care about liver health, please read studies about simple habit that could give you a healthy liver, and common diabetes drug that may reverse liver inflammation.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about simple blood test that could detect your risk of fatty liver disease, and results showing this green diet may strongly lower non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The study is published in Hepatology.
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