Iron and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

The mechanisms that promote liver injury in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) are yet to be thoroughly elucidated. As such, effective treatment strategies are lacking and novel therapeutic targets are required. Iron has been widely implicated in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and represents a pote...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inWorld journal of gastroenterology : WJG Vol. 22; no. 36; pp. 8112 - 8122
Main Authors Britton, Laurence J, Subramaniam, V Nathan, Crawford, Darrell HG
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Baishideng Publishing Group Inc 28.09.2016
Subjects
Adipose Tissue - metabolism
Animals
Endothelial Cells - cytology
Fatty Liver - metabolism
Ferritins - blood
Hepatocytes - metabolism
Homeostasis
Humans
Insulin Resistance
Iron - blood
Iron - metabolism
Iron;Fatty
Lipid Metabolism
Liver - metabolism
Liver - pathology
liver;Liver
mellitus;Adipose
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - metabolism
Obesity - complications
resistance;Steatohepatitis;Diabetes
Review
steatosis;Insulin
tissue
Adipose tissue
Fatty liver
Diabetes mellitus
Steatohepatitis
Insulin resistance
Iron
Liver steatosis
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The mechanisms that promote liver injury in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) are yet to be thoroughly elucidated. As such, effective treatment strategies are lacking and novel therapeutic targets are required. Iron has been widely implicated in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and represents a potential target for treatment. Relationships between serum ferritin concentration and NAFLD are noted in a majority of studies, although serum ferritin is an imprecise measure of iron loading. Numerous mechanisms for a pathogenic role of hepatic iron in NAFLD have been demonstrated in animal and cell culture models. However, the human data linking hepatic iron to liver injury in NAFLD is less clear, with seemingly conflicting evidence, supporting either an effect of iron in hepatocytes or within reticulo-endothelial cells. Adipose tissue has emerged as a key site at which iron may have a pathogenic role in NAFLD. Evidence for this comes indirectly from studies that have evaluated the role of adipose tissue iron with respect to insulin resistance. Adding further complexity, multiple strands of evidence support an effect of NAFLD itself on iron metabolism. In this review, we summarise the human and basic science data that has evaluated the role of iron in NAFLD pathogenesis.
Bibliography:Laurence J Britton;V Nathan Subramaniam;Darrell HG Crawford;Gallipoli Medical Research Institute, The University of Queensland, Greenslopes Private Hospital;The Princess Alexandra Hospital;QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
ObjectType-Review-3
content type line 23
Telephone: +61-7-33947284 Fax: +61-7-33947767
Correspondence to: Dr. Laurence J Britton, Gallipoli Medical Research Institute, The University of Queensland, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Newdegate Street, Greenslopes, Brisbane, Queensland 4120, Australia. l.britton@uq.edu.au
Author contributions: Britton LJ reviewed the literature and wrote the manuscript; Subramaniam VN and Crawford DHG reviewed the manuscript and made important changes to the content.
ISSN:1007-9327
2219-2840
2219-2840
DOI:10.3748/wjg.v22.i36.8112