Amino acids deficiency in NAFLD

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K19664
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: General internal medicine and related fields
• Research Institution: Yokohama City University
• Principal Investigator: Atsushi Nakajima 横浜市立大学, 医学研究科, 教授 (30326037)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: NASH / NAFLD / アミノ酸

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In patients with NAFLD despite potential obesity and excessive hypertrophic condition, it is a potential amino acid deprivation condition, and its effect is conspicuous in faeces, and amino acid deficiency with excess energy added to the liver is It has been known that using a human clinical sample and a mouse model, even mild deficiency causes exacerbation of fatty liver, that is, the condition is relatively the same as starvation, etc. It is expected that it leads to the proposition of a novel mechanism of NAFLD exacerbation due to amino acid deficiency under hypernutrition in NAFLD pathological conditions that were not present. In the future, we would like to develop new biomarkers such as new diagnostic methods for amino acid deficiency in NAFLD patients and to develop completely new diagnostic treatments such as amino acid replacement therapy from detailed examination of deficient amino acids.

Free Research Field

消化器内科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

非アルコール性脂肪肝疾患（NAFLD）は全人口の２割強を占める膨大な患者数であるが確立された薬物療法はない。それゆえ新規治療法の開発への挑戦が期待される分野である。当該患者では肥満を認めるが筋肉量の減少をしばしば認めるがこれは運動量の低下のためを説明されていた。しかし、当該患者で栄養状態が良いにもかかわらず潜在的アミノ酸欠乏状態に陥っていることは極めて新規性が高くかつ臨床的重要性が高いことであるといえる。NAFLDでは相対的にエネルギー・アミノ酸比が飢餓状態と同じでありその結果NAFLDが増悪するとすれば当該疾患の機序解明および治療におけるパラダイムシフトへとつながるものである。