Role of mitochondria in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. 8713 - 8742
• Main Authors: Nassir, Fatiha, Ibdah, Jamal A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15-05-2014; Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)
• Subjects: fatty acid oxidation; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - chemistry; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Humans; liver; Liver diseases; Mitochondria; Mitochondria - chemistry; Mitochondria - metabolism; NAFLD; NASH; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - metabolism; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - pathology; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - prevention & control; Oxidation; Oxidative Stress; Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha; PGC-1α; Protein expression; Review; Sirtuin 1 - metabolism; Sirtuin 3 - metabolism; sirtuin-1 (SIRT1); sirtuin-3 (SIRT3); steatosis; Transcription Factors - metabolism
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms15058713

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects about 30% of the general population in the United States and includes a spectrum of disease that includes simple steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis and cirrhosis. Significant insight has been gained into our understanding of the pathogenesis of NALFD; however the key metabolic aberrations underlying lipid accumulation in hepatocytes and the progression of NAFLD remain to be elucidated. Accumulating and emerging evidence indicate that hepatic mitochondria play a critical role in the development and pathogenesis of steatosis and NAFLD. Here, we review studies that document a link between the pathogenesis of NAFLD and hepatic mitochondrial dysfunction with particular focus on new insights into the role of impaired fatty acid oxidation, the transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), and sirtuins in development and progression of NAFLD.