Kisspeptin, a hormone named for the iconic Hershey’s ‘Kisses’ might be developed as a treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to a new study appearing in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The hormone also serves to regulate puberty and fertility in humans.
Globally, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common form of chronic liver disease that affects children and adults and is linked to the rise in obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Largely without symptoms in the early stages, NAFLD begins with the accumulation of fat in the liver, leading to ‘fatty liver’. With disease progression, inflammation sets in, resulting in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). This is followed by fibrosis and cirrhosis, and a subset of NASH patients with cirrhosis will also develop liver cancer. There are presently no approved therapeutics to treat NASH.
Study lead investigator, Moshmi Bhattacharya, an associate professor at Rutgers University, has spent over 15 years studying kisspeptin in health and disease. Kisspeptin, encoded by the KISS1 gene, was discovered in a city called Hershey, and named for the iconic Hershey chocolate ‘kisses’. As well as playing key roles in pubertal development and maintaining reproductive function, kisspeptin has also been linked to appetite and, coincidentally given its name, sexual attraction.
In the study, mice fed on a high-fat, high-sugar ‘Western’ diet to induce obesity and NAFLD, were protected from the development of fatty liver, NASH and fibrosis when given kisspeptin. Kisspeptin works by binding its receptor, a protein called KISS1R, which, when deleted from liver cells, prevents kisspeptin from functioning, leading mice on Western diets to develop fatty liver. These experiments uncover a powerful relationship between kisspeptin and the reduction of liver fat and fibrosis.
“This work shows the kisspeptin receptor signaling pathway has a potential therapeutic role in NAFLD,” said co-author, Professor Vinod K Rustgi. “It does this by protecting against the development of fat in the liver and reducing inflammation and fibrosis. As such, it has the potential to favorably impact the health and lives of millions of patients around the globe.”
Source: Rutgers University
