IL-1 family cytokine pathways underlying NAFLD: towards new treatment strategies

AM Mirea, CJ Tack, T Chavakis, LAB Joosten… - Trends in molecular …, 2018 - cell.com
AM Mirea, CJ Tack, T Chavakis, LAB Joosten, EJM Toonen
Trends in molecular medicine, 2018cell.com
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease worldwide.
Pathways responsible for the activation of IL-1 family cytokines are key in the development
of NAFLD but underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Many studies have focused
on the inflammasome–caspase-1 pathway and have shown that this pathway is an important
inducer of inflammation in NAFLD. However, this pathway is not solely responsible for the
activation of proinflammatory cytokines. Also, neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs) are …
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease worldwide. Pathways responsible for the activation of IL-1 family cytokines are key in the development of NAFLD but underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Many studies have focused on the inflammasome–caspase-1 pathway and have shown that this pathway is an important inducer of inflammation in NAFLD. However, this pathway is not solely responsible for the activation of proinflammatory cytokines. Also, neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs) are capable of activating cytokines and recent studies reported that these proteases also contribute to NAFLD. These studies provided, for the first time, evidence that this inflammasome-independent pathway is involved in NAFLD. In our opinion, these new insights open up new approaches for therapeutic intervention.
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