Nutritional therapy for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Paola Dongiovanni, Claudia Lanti, Patrizia Riso, Luca Valenti  Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry  Volume 29, Pages 1-11 (March 2016) DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2015.08.024 Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions

Fig. 1 Molecular mechanisms explaining the hepatoprotective effect of food bioactives. Development of NAFLD/NASH is induced by different risk factors, such as western-type diet, physical inactivity and genetic predisposition. In the presence of obesity and IR, there is an increased flux of FFAs to the liver. These FFAs are stored as TG in lipid droplets leading to hepatic fat accumulation or undergo β-oxidation increasing oxidative stress and the inflammatory pathway. The damaged hepatocyte leads to a further increase of inflammatory signalling (IL-1, TNFa, IL-6) and the recruitment of circulating and residual macrophages (KCs). All of these mechanisms can directly induce the activation of HSCs, the major cell type involved in extracellular matrix deposition and liver fibrosis. The bioactive compounds may exert beneficial effects on NAFLD development and progression by inhibiting lipogenesis, β-oxidation of FFAs, inflammation and HSCs activation. In the cartoon, we have listed the food bioactives indicating the putative mechanisms by which they may improve liver damage in NAFLD. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry 2016 29, 1-11DOI: (10.1016/j.jnutbio.2015.08.024) Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions