Fatty Liver Disease: Genes and NAFLD
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the leading cause of liver problems worldwide, bypassing alcoholic liver disease. It is estimated that almost half of the population in the US has NAFLD caused by a combination of genetic susceptibility, diet, and lifestyle factors.[ ref][ ref]
The good news is that fatty liver disease is reversible. Read on for the science details, genetic susceptibility variants, and lifehacks for a healthy liver.
What is NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease)?
Normal liver cells (hepatocytes) will store fat in small liposomes or fat-storage vesicles. When the liver cells store too much fat, the liposomes grow large, and the cells stop functioning as well as normal.
Most people with NAFLD have no symptoms, but some will report fatigue and vague liver pain. NAFLD can cause elevated liver enzymes (AST and ALT), but not everyone with NAFLD has high liver numbers.
Why do we care about fatty liver if it causes few symptoms? Well, a percentage of people with fatty liver will progress to the point of inflammation and fibrosis (called NASH) and then possibly liver failure. Not good…
While most people won’t end up needing a liver transplant, people with fatty livers may end up with metabolic dysfunction (insulin resistance, diabetes), increased inflammation, and liver mitochondrial dysfunction.[ ref][ ref]
Your liver does a lot! For example, the liver:
- stores glycogen, vitamins, minerals
- produces cholesterol and lipoproteins
- converts glucose into glycogen for stored energy
- creates the enzymes needed for metabolizing toxins and medications
- regulates a bunch of different amino acids
- makes some immune factors and clotting factors
- clears out bilirubin and ammonia
- makes bile for breaking down fats in foods
Everything you eat or drink that gets absorbed in the stomach or intestines first passes through the liver. It’s vital, and we all need it to function well for optimal health.
Why does the liver store fat?
Your liver cells always need a source of energy, and stored fat gives the cell continual access to an energy source.
The liver can store fat from the foods you eat or create fatty acids through de novo lipogenesis, which converts excess carbs into fat. Additionally, the fat liberated from your adipose tissue can be stored in the liver. When the cells need energy, the liver can use up the stored fat via beta-oxidation. Furthermore, VLDL (very low-density lipoprotein) molecules secreted into the bloodstream can export fat from the liver.[ ref]
Read the rest of this article on Genetic Lifehacks. (It’s a long one, diving deep into the causes of fatty liver, the genetic variants that increase susceptibility, and solutions that tie into your genetic variants.)
https://www.geneticlifehacks.com/fatty-liver-genetic-variants-that-increase-the-risk-of-nafld/
