The beneficial effects of taurine in alleviating fatty liver disease

Abstract

Fatty liver disease (FLD) is mainly characterized by the pathophysiological progression from simple hepatic steatosis to steatohepatitis, which has been increasing in incidence and has attracted much attention due to its risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. It is considered that lipid metabolism disorder, oxidative stress, inflammation etc. are common factors leading to the progression of FLD including alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A number of studies provide the evidence that taurine, a small sulfur-containing amino acid in food, has the efficient action to FLD. The beneficial effects include lowering lipids level to alleviate hepatic steatosis, increasing the antioxidant enzymes and substances to improve antioxidant defense, regulating the inflammation-related signal pathways to reduce pro-inflammatory factors and inflammatory response, and regulating the enzymes involved in ethanol metabolism etc. This review summarizes the data from in vivo and in vitro studies, and addresses the possible metabolic and molecular mechanisms of taurine in alleviating FLD.