Level C· Early human research exploring benefitsProspective StudyEurope PMCOpen access

Leukemia inhibitory factor protects against liver steatosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients and obese mice

Yuan Y., Li K., Teng F., Wang W., Zhou B., Zhou X.

Prospective Study with a reported sample of 214, published in J Biol Chem (2022) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.

Open my reading list
Level C· Early human research exploring benefitsEvidence level of this study

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

  • Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
  • Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
  • Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
  • Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
  • Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
Read the A–D evidence level guide

This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.

Study type
Prospective Study
Journal
J Biol Chem (2022)
Reported sample size
214
Source database
Europe PMC
PMID
35447114
PMCID
PMC9123280
DOI
10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101946
Citations
14

Abstract (original English)

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide. However, the molecular mechanisms that promote dysregulation of hepatic triglyceride metabolism and lead to NAFLD are poorly understood, and effective treatments are limited. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a member of the interleukin-6 cytokine family and has been shown to regulate a variety of physiological processes, although its role in hepatic triglyceride metabolism remains unknown. In the present study, we measured circulating LIF levels by ELISA in 214 patients with biopsy-diagnosed NAFLD as well as 314 normal control patients. We further investigated the potential role and mechanism of LIF on hepatic lipid metabolism in obese mice. We found that circulating LIF levels correlated with the severity of liver steatosis. Patients with ballooning, fibrosis, lobular inflammation, and abnormally elevated liver injury markers alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase also had higher levels of serum LIF than control patients. Furthermore, animal studies showed that white adipose tissue-derived LIF could ameliorate liver steatosis through activation of hepatic LIF receptor signaling pathways. Together, our results suggested that targeting LIF-LIF receptor signaling might be a promising strategy for treating NAFLD.

What this study does not prove

  • • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

How we grade evidence
LiverAnimalsHumansMiceMice, ObeseTriglyceridesLeukemia Inhibitory FactorNon-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.