Research Article Details

Article ID: A01202
PMID: 34829926
Source: Biomedicines
Title: Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Potential Links to Depression, Anxiety, and Chronic Stress.
Abstract: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) constitutes the most common liver disease worldwide, and is frequently linked to the metabolic syndrome. The latter represents a clustering of related cardio-metabolic components, which are often observed in patients with NAFLD and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, growing evidence suggests a positive association between metabolic syndrome and certain mental health problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, and chronic stress). Given the strong overlap between metabolic syndrome and NAFLD, and the common underlying mechanisms that link the two conditions, it is probable that potentially bidirectional associations are also present between NAFLD and mental health comorbidity. The identification of such links is worthy of further investigation, as this can inform more targeted interventions for patients with NAFLD. Therefore, the present review discusses published evidence in relation to associations of depression, anxiety, stress, and impaired health-related quality of life with NAFLD and metabolic syndrome. Attention is also drawn to the complex nature of affective disorders and potential overlapping symptoms between such conditions and NAFLD, while a focus is also placed on the postulated mechanisms mediating associations between mental health and both NAFLD and metabolic syndrome. Relevant gaps/weaknesses of the available literature are also highlighted, together with future research directions that need to be further explored.
DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9111697

Strategy ID Therapy Strategy Synonyms Therapy Targets Therapy Drugs
S01 Improve insulin resistance insulin sensitizer; insulin resistance; glucose tolerance Biguanide: increases 5-AMP activated protein kinase signaling; SGLT-2 inhibitor; Thiazalidinedione: selective PPAR-γ agonists; GLP-1 agonist Metformin; Empagliflozin; Canagliflozin; Rosiglitazone; Pioglitazone; Liraglutide Details

Target ID Target Name GENE Action Class UniProtKB ID Entry Name

Diseases ID DO ID Disease Name Definition Class
I17 1596 Mental depression Mental depression disease of mental health/ cognitive disorder/ mood disorder Details
I05 9352 Type 2 diabetes mellitus A diabetes that is characterized by chronic hyperglycaemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. A diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus_type_2 disease of metabolism/inherited metabolic disorder/ carbohydrate metabolic disorder/glucose metabolism disease/diabetes/ diabetes mellitus Details
I14 9970 Obesity An overnutrition that is characterized by excess body fat, traditionally defined as an elevated ratio of weight to height (specifically 30 kilograms per meter squared), has_material_basis_in a multifactorial etiology related to excess nutrition intake, decreased caloric utilization, and genetic susceptibility, and possibly medications and certain disorders of metabolism, endocrine function, and mental illness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity disease of metabolism/acquired metabolic disease/ nutrition disease/overnutrition Details

Drug ID Drug Name Type DrugBank ID Targets Category Latest Progress
D328 Serine Chemical drug DB00133 SRR Improve insulin resistance Under clinical trials Details
D579 Emfilermin Miscellany -- adipocytes Enhance lipid metabolism Under investigation Details
D182 Insulin Biological drug DB00030 INSR agonist; CPE modulator&product of -- Under clinical trials Details