liver tagged posts

Fasting triggers autophagy in our body. The body switches on the waste disposal system in the cells and gains new energy. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne have now shown in mice that the brain plays a decisive role in this process.

Even after a short period of fasting, the brain triggers the release of the hormone corticosterone and thus initiates autophagy in the liver...

Protein Kinase C Epsilon Deletion in Adipose Tissue, but Not in Liver, Improves Glucose Tolerance

A new study by Australian researchers, out today, is challenging what we know about the causes of diabetes. The new research points to fat tissue as a source of disease, and widens our understanding beyond the traditional focus on liver and pancreas as the main culprits. The findings, uncovered in mice, are published in the high-impact journal Cell Metabolism.

The new research is centred around the surprising finding that protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε), known to be involved in diabetes, isn’t acting in the liver or the pancreas as was once assumed. Researchers have long known that PKCε is important for the development of diabetes...

The livers of a normal mouse (left) and a mouse whose liver cells lack Cpt2 (right) after eating a high fat diet. Courtesy of Cell Press

Study in mice shows important role of liver in balancing fats and sugars. Sugar in the form of blood glucose provides essential energy for cells. When its usual dietary source – carbohydrates – is scarce, the liver can produce it with the aid of fat. But new research from Johns Hopkins now adds to evidence that other tissues can step in to make glucose when the liver’s ability is impaired, and that the breakdown of fats in the liver is essential to protect it from a lethal onslaught of fat...

Legumes such as beans, soy or lentils are good sources of iron. (Image: www.colourbox.com)

Therapeutic iron supplements may be less effective when given in brief intervals: A peptide molecule blocks iron absorption in the intestine even 24 hours after the iron administation. Anemia is often the result of an iron deficiency. In such cases the patients, who are typically female, will be prescribed iron supplements to be taken daily.

As soon as iron enters the body, hepcidin production begins in the liver. This tiny protein, which is composed of just 25 amino acid building blocks, then is released into the bloodstream and reaches the intestine, where one of its functions is to regulate the amount of iron absorbed into the body through the cells of the gastrointestinal tract...