Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Apr 21;26(15):1683-1690.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i15.1683.

Determining the role for uric acid in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis development and the utility of urate metabolites in diagnosis: An opinion review

Paul Brennan  1 , Kathleen Clare  2 , Jacob George  3 , John F Dillon  3
Affiliations
Review

Determining the role for uric acid in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis development and the utility of urate metabolites in diagnosis: An opinion review

Paul Brennan et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

There has long been a recognised association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the composite aspects of the metabolic syndrome. Part of this association highlighted the supposed co-existence of elevated uric acid levels in those with NAFLD. There is interest in exploitation of this as a putative diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in NAFLD. Given the increased economic and health burden associated with the NAFLD epidemic, improved methods of population-based, minimally-invasive methods and biomarkers are clearly highly sought and necessary. In this opinion review we review the proposed role of uric acid in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and its potential utilisation in the diagnosis and monitoring of the disease process.

Keywords: Fatty liver index; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; Non-invasive fibrosis markers; Urate; Uric acid.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Potential pathogenic mechanisms of uric acid associated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. NLRP3: NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3; ER: Endoplasmic reticulum; SREBP-1: Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1; NOX4: NADPH oxidase subunit-4; ROS: Reactive oxygen species.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dyson JK, Anstee QM, McPherson S. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a practical approach to diagnosis and staging. Frontline Gastroenterol. 2014;5:211–218. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rinella ME. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a systematic review. JAMA. 2015;313:2263–2273. - PubMed
    1. Liu CQ, He CM, Chen N, Wang D, Shi X, Liu Y, Zeng X, Yan B, Liu S, Yang S, Li X, Li X, Li Z. Serum uric acid is independently and linearly associated with risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in obese Chinese adults. Sci Rep. 2016;6:38605. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Xu C, Wan X, Xu L, Weng H, Yan M, Miao M, Sun Y, Xu G, Dooley S, Li Y, Yu C. Xanthine oxidase in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hyperuricemia: One stone hits two birds. J Hepatol. 2015;62:1412–1419. - PubMed
    1. Hediger MA, Johnson RJ, Miyazaki H, Endou H. Molecular physiology of urate transport. Physiology (Bethesda) 2005;20:125–133. - PubMed

MeSH terms