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Review
. 2021 Feb 16;10(4):792.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10040792.

Roles of Ceramides in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Eric Hajduch  1   2 , Floriane Lachkar  1   2 , Pascal Ferré  1   2 , Fabienne Foufelle  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Roles of Ceramides in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Eric Hajduch et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is one of the most common chronic liver diseases, ranging from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Its prevalence is rapidly increasing and presently affects around 25% of the general population of Western countries, due to the obesity epidemic. Liver fat accumulation induces the synthesis of specific lipid species and particularly ceramides, a sphingolipid. In turn, ceramides have deleterious effects on hepatic metabolism, a phenomenon called lipotoxicity. We review here the evidence showing the role of ceramides in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the mechanisms underlying their effects.

Keywords: NAFLD; NASH; ceramide; liver; sphingolipids; steatosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ceramide de novo synthesis pathway.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Actions of ceramides on hepatocyte lipid metabolism. Ceramides increase the availability of fatty acids for triglyceride synthesis by promoting the expression and transfer to the plasma membrane of the fatty acid transporter CD36, by inducing the cleavage of the precursor form of the transcription factor SREBP-1c which activates the expression of lipogenic genes, and by reducing fatty acid oxidation in mitochondria. Ceramides also induce hepatic insulin resistance by reducing the insulin-dependent activation of the protein kinase Akt, thus contributing to dysfunctional glucose metabolism.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Actions of ceramides on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) progression, HSC, hepatic stellate cells.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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