Scientists at UCLA have discovered that a specific group of dysfunctional immune cells quietly accumulates in the liver as people age and in people with fatty liver disease, and that eliminating these cells in mice reversed the liver damage entirely, even when the animals kept eating an unhealthy diet throughout. The cells, which researchers describe as zombie cells, are a type of immune cell called macrophages that stop dividing normally but do not die, instead lingering in tissue and releasing a steady flood of inflammatory signals that damage surrounding cells over time. The study, published in Nature Aging, found that in young mice only about five percent of liver immune cells had become senescent, but in older mice that figure climbed to between 60 and 80 percent, closely matching the sharp increase in chronic liver inflammation that comes with aging. Excess cholesterol in the blood was identified as a key trigger that can push these cells into their dysfunctional state even in younger animals.
When researchers treated mice with a drug designed to selectively clear these zombie cells, the results were striking. Livers shrank from an unhealthy size back toward normal, body weight fell by roughly 25 percent, and the enlarged yellowish livers seen in untreated animals were replaced by smaller, healthier, normally colored ones, all without any dietary changes. The researchers also found the same senescent immune cell signature in human liver biopsies from people with liver disease, suggesting the mechanism likely applies to people as well. The senior author of the study said he is happy to be making inroads into one of the fastest-growing public health problems in the country, as fatty liver disease is now being seen in younger and younger people and effective treatments remain extremely limited.
Source: https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-find-way-to-reverse-fatty-liver-disease-without-changing-diet/
