New treatment for fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes burns up fat in liver
In a study involving 86 people with varying degrees of fatty liver disease, researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology's Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) research center and Gothenburg University found that the liver has the ability to burn up accumulated fats. The researchers propose a mixture of substances that will set this process in motion. One of the most common chronic liver problems in the world, the accumulation of fat in the liver -- or hepatic steatosis -- is the key characteristic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It is linked to obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Up to 30 percent of subjects with NAFLD develop non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in which hepatic inflammation and scarring can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. The researchers mapped the metabolic changes caused by accumulated fat in 86 patients' liver cells, and combined this data with an analysis of a genome-scale model of l...