Cortisol and fatty liver: Researchers find cause of severe metabolic...(down fat and thus counteracts fat accumu...)

Date:9/9/2008

down fat and, thus, counteracts fat accumulation in the liver. If, on other hand, normal mice are treated with cortisol, their HES1 levels in the liver drops, while triglyceride levels rise. Further experiments have shown that the cortisol receptor in this newly found metabolic pathway act directly on a switch of the HES1 gene and, thus, switches it off completely.

"We have discovered a key mechanism here that plays a crucial role in many pathologic metabolic disorders," explains Stephan Herzig. "It has been obvious for some time that there is an association between the body's own cortisol or therapeutically administered cortisone and the development of fatty liver. Now we also know what the interconnections look like at a molecular level."

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Contact: Dr. Sibylle Kohlstdt s.kohlstaedt@dkfz.de Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres Source:Eurekalert

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