Resveratrol May Protect Against Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

A recent issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology reported the finding of researchers at the University of South Florida Health Sciences Center in Tampa of a protective effect for resveratrol against alcoholic fatty liver disease in mice.

Laboratory research has associated alcoholic fatty liver with the inhibition of two signaling molecules, SIRT1 and AMPK, which regulate the liver’s fat metabolism pathways. Dr. Min You and colleagues fed mice low-fat diets supplemented with or without ethanol (alcohol) and/or a low or high dose of resveratrol, and measured the expression of SIRT1 and AMPK in the animals’ livers. They confirmed that resveratrol activated SIRT1 and AMPK in the mice that received alcohol, which prevented fatty liver.

“Our study suggests that resveratrol may serve as a promising agent for preventing or treating human alcoholic fatty liver disease,” the authors concluded.

Source:

Ajmo JM, Liang X, Rogers CQ, Pennock B, You M. Resveratrol alleviates alcoholic fatty liver in mice. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2008 Oct;295(4):G833-42.

Key concepts: Resveratrol, SIRT1, AMPK, alcoholic fatty liver disease