Journal of hepatology
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Journal of hepatology · May 2013
Pharmacological promotion of autophagy alleviates steatosis and injury in alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver conditions in mice.
Pharmacological approaches can potentially improve fatty liver condition in alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases. The salutary effects of reducing lipid synthesis or promoting lipid oxidation have been well reported, but the benefits of increasing lipid degradation have yet to be well explored. Macroautophagy is a cellular degradation process that can remove subcellular organelles including lipid droplets. We thus investigated whether pharmacological modulation of macroautophagy could be an effective approach to alleviate fatty liver condition and liver injury. ⋯ These findings indicate that pharmacological modulation of macroautophagy in the liver can be an effective strategy for reducing fatty liver condition and liver injury.