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World J Gastroenterol. Sep 14, 2012; 18(34): 4651-4658
Published online Sep 14, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i34.4651
Interactions between hepatic iron and lipid metabolism with possible relevance to steatohepatitis
Umbreen Ahmed, Patricia S Latham, Phillip S Oates
Umbreen Ahmed, Department of Physiology, Army Medical College, National University of Sciences and Technology, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Patricia S Latham, Department of Pathology, The George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC 20037, United States
Phillip S Oates, Physiology M311, Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the production of this manuscript.
Correspondence to: Dr. Phillip S Oates, Physiology M311, Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia. poates@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Telephone: +61-8-64881391 Fax: +61-8-64881025
Received: January 10, 2012
Revised: March 27, 2012
Accepted: March 29, 2012
Published online: September 14, 2012
Abstract

The liver is an important site for iron and lipid metabolism and the main site for the interactions between these two metabolic pathways. Although conflicting results have been obtained, most studies support the hypothesis that iron plays a role in hepatic lipogenesis. Iron is an integral part of some enzymes and transporters involved in lipid metabolism and, as such, may exert a direct effect on hepatic lipid load, intrahepatic metabolic pathways and hepatic lipid secretion. On the other hand, iron in its ferrous form may indirectly affect lipid metabolism through its ability to induce oxidative stress and inflammation, a hypothesis which is currently the focus of much research in the field of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH). The present review will first discuss how iron might directly interact with the metabolism of hepatic lipids and then consider a new perspective on the way in which iron may have a role in the two hit hypothesis for the progression of NAFLD via ferroportin and the iron regulatory molecule hepcidin. The review concludes that iron has important interactions with lipid metabolism in the liver that can impact on the development of NAFLD/NASH. More defined studies are required to improve our understanding of these effects.

Keywords: Lipids, Iron, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, Hepcidin, Oxidative stress