Health · Medical Research · 18 hrs ago
High-salt diet triggered liver damage in lean mice, study finds
Researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and University College London studied how fatty liver disease might develop in people who are not overweight.
They fed mice a disease-inducing diet with added salt and found inflammation and scarring in the liver, despite relatively little fat buildup.
The study suggests high salt could contribute to fatty liver disease in lean people, but it does not show that this happens in humans.
Fatty liver disease affects about a third of adults in the UK and is linked to obesity, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.
It can progress to liver inflammation, scarring and, in severe cases, liver failure.
The findings suggest lean and obese patients may develop the disease through different biological pathways, which could help explain why the same treatments may not work equally well for both groups.
Researchers say the results could support more tailored treatment approaches.
A high-salt diet triggered liver inflammation and scarring in non-obese mice, a study found.
The researchers said the findings suggest lean fatty liver disease may develop through different biological pathways from obesity-associated disease.
The mouse model showed relatively little fat accumulation in the liver despite significant inflammation and scarring.
The researchers said the findings may help explain why some treatments for obesity-associated fatty liver disease may be less effective in lean patients.
- Who
- Researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and University College London.
- What
- They found that a high-salt diet triggered liver inflammation and scarring in non-obese mice.
- When
- Not stated.
- Where
- In a mouse study by researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and University College London.
- Why
- The researchers investigated how fatty liver disease might develop in people who are not overweight.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Our findings suggest that lean fatty liver disease is not simply the same disease occurring in a thinner person.
Researchers developed a diet-induced mouse model of lean fatty liver disease.
They fed mice a fatty liver disease-inducing diet with added high salt.
The researchers found liver inflammation and scarring in non-obese mice.
- Research institutions
- Duke-NUS Medical School and University College London
- Study model
- Non-obese mice
- Diet tested
- Fatty liver disease-inducing diet with added high salt
- Liver effects
- Inflammation and scarring, with relatively little fat accumulation
- United Kingdom prevalence
- Fatty liver disease affects about a third of adults
Sources
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