Prevalence of obesity and its metabolic sequelae (metabolic syndrome) are increasing worldwide. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a spectrum of disorders ranging from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis, which can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer. It often occurs in overweight/obese individuals with impaired metabolism, hence the recent introduction of the new term metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids of n-3 series (omega-3 PUFA) are known for their hypolipidemic and anti-inflammatory effects, which could be exploited in preventive and/or therapeutic strategies targeting NAFLD/MASLD.
In this presentation, I will give a brief overview of our studies on the antisteatotic effects of omega-3 PUFA in the liver, including studies investigating the effect of the chemical form on the efficacy of omega-3 PUFA supplementation. Furthermore, I will discuss the introduction of new mouse models of diet-induced progressive NAFLD/MASLD into our laboratory that can be used in experiments aimed at identifying the pathophysiological processes involved in the transition from benign steatosis to more severe stages of the disease and also to study the efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs on advanced NAFLD/MASLD.

IPHYS contact person: Martin Rossmeisl, martin.rossmeisl@fgu.cas.cz