A New Study Found One Potential Driver Of Liver Damage
If you've been told you have fatty liver, it can sound like a pretty simple problem. There's too much fat in the liver, so naturally, you'd assume the fat itself is what causes the damage.
But that doesn't quite explain why some people with fatty liver never develop serious problems, while others go on to develop inflammation, scarring, and liver damage.
A new study looked at what might be happening in the liver after that fat starts to build up.
About the study
The researchers were interested in MASH, or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. It's a more advanced form of fatty liver disease where fat buildup is accompanied by inflammation and damage to liver cells.
So they started looking for something that might help explain that transition from relatively harmless fat buildup to actual liver injury. One protein caught their attention: EFHD1.
Previous genetic research had linked EFHD1 to blood markers of liver injury, but not to how much fat was in the liver. That distinction was important.
It suggested EFHD1 might have something to do with the damage caused by fatty liver, rather than the fat itself.
The researchers removed EFHD1 from some mice and left it intact in others. They then fed both groups different diets, including diets designed to cause fatty liver and MASH.
They also tested what happened when EFHD1 was blocked in human liver cells grown in the lab and examined liver tissue from people with MASH.
Removing EFHD1 reduced signs of liver damage
The mice without EFHD1 had about half the levels of liver enzymes that signal liver injury compared with mice that still had the protein. They also had less inflammation and scarring in their livers.
EFHD1 helps keep parts of a liver cell connected, including the mitochondria, the structures that make energy for the cell. When there was more EFHD1, the mitochondria became stressed and started leaking some of their genetic material into the cell.
The cell essentially mistook that material for a sign of a viral infection. It responded by switching on an immune defense system.
That response makes sense when a virus is actually present. But when it gets switched on unnecessarily and stays active, it can start hurting the cell instead of protecting it.
Mice without EFHD1 had less of this response, which may help explain why their livers experienced less damage.
A potential new target for fatty liver treatment
Instead of only trying to reduce the amount of fat in the liver, future treatments might be able to interrupt some of the damage that happens after the fat has accumulated.
When researchers blocked EFHD1, they saw less liver damage, inflammation, and scarring in the mice. Blocking the protein also protected human liver cells grown in the lab.
The researchers tested the idea in another model of liver injury, too, and saw similar results. Perhaps most importantly, blocking EFHD1 still appeared to help when liver damage had already started. Stronger blocking was also associated with greater protection.
That said, we're a long way from having an EFHD1 drug. This research was done in mice and lab-grown human liver tissue, so researchers still need to determine whether the same approach works in people and whether it would be safe.
RELATED READ: 5 Antioxidants That Support Liver Detoxification
How to support your liver now
There's no EFHD1 treatment to reach for today, which means the basics of liver health still matter.
- Keep moving: Regular physical activity can support metabolic health, an important part of keeping your liver healthy.
- Build meals around whole foods: The diets that caused liver injury in the mice were high in fat, cholesterol, and fructose. It's another reason to keep added sugar and excess saturated fat in check and prioritize minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods. A higher-quality diet has also been linked to a lower risk of liver disease.
These steps won't specifically block EFHD1, but they can help address some of the metabolic factors that contribute to fatty liver in the first place.
The takeaway
EFHD1 may be one reason fatty liver progresses from fat buildup to inflammation and injury. It's an early finding, but it gives researchers a potential new target for future treatments. Until then, the tried-and-true basics of regular movement and a nutrient-dense diet still have the strongest case behind them.
