The nonalcoholic steatohepatitis metabotype: Imbalance of circulating amino acids and transamination reactions reflect impaired mitochondrial function

PIROLA, CARLOS J.; SOOKOIAN, SILVIA

HEPATOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD.)

JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: Hoboken; Año: 2018 vol. 67 p. 1177 - 1178

0270-9139

Theresearchers observed that patients with NAFLD had high levels of isoleucine and valine (branched-chain amino acids; BCAA), tyrosine, alanine, lysine, andglutamate. More specifically, the researchers found that BCAA correlated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels;therefore, they concluded that plasma levels of aminotransferases reflect increased transamination reactions, and that amino acids are markers of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Although these results are confirmatory findings of knowledge that is already known and of which the associated molecular mechanisms have been extensively studied, some points deserve to be highlighted.