Researchers recently found a biochemical relationship between fatty liver and excessive consumption of sugar. IIT Mandi released the study regarding what is medically known as “Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)”.
Over Consumption of Sugar May Cause NAFLD; Study
NAFLD is a condition in which excess fat deposits in the liver. The disease starts silently, with no overt symptoms for as much as two decades. If left untreated, the excess fat can irritate the liver cells, resulting in scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), and in advanced cases, can even lead to liver cancer. The treatment of advanced stages of NAFLD is difficult.
The study suggests that over consumption of sugar is one of the causes of NAFLD. It includes both table sugar and other forms of carbohydrates. The consumption of excess sugar and carbohydrates causes the liver to convert them into fat in a process called hepatic De Novo Lipogenesis or DNL, which leads to fat accumulation in the liver.
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Lead scientist Prosenjit Mondal, Associate Professor, School of Basic Sciences, IIT Mandi, said that the molecular mechanisms that cause an increase in the hepatic DNL is due to overconsumption of sugar. This again is the cause of developing therapeutics for the NAFLD, which is yet to be confirmed.
The team used a complementary experimental approach involving mice models, and identified the unknown link between the carbohydrate-induced activation of a protein complex called NF-KB and increased DNL.
Mondal further explained that their data indicates that the sugar-mediated shuttlign of hepatic NF-KB-p65 causes the levels of another protein, sorcin to drop. This in turn activates liver DNL through a cascading biochemical pathway.” The findings are published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
NF-KB Plays a Key Role in Lipid Accumulation; Report
The study further showed that the drugs that can inhibit NF-KB can prevent sugar-induced hepatic fat accumulation. They have also shown that the knockdown of sorcin reduces the lipid-lowering ability of the NF-KB inhibitor.
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The finding also showed that NF-KB plays a key role in lipid accumulation in the liver opens up a new avenue of therapeutics for NAFLD. NF-KB also plays a role in other diseases that involve inflammation, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, IBS, stroke, muscle wasting and infections.
