Commentary
An elevated level of plasma uric acid has been widely recognised as a risk factor for NAFLD, where oxidative stress and inflammation play an important role in the pathophysiology of the disease. Although the complete molecular mechanisms involved remain unknown, while under physiological conditions uric acid presents antioxidant properties, hyperuricemia has been linked to oxidative stress, chronic low-grade inflammation, and insulin resistance, basic signs of NAFLD.
The authors aimed to investigate whether a high-fat diet rich in cholesterol modifies the metabolism of purines in close relationship to molecular events associated with the development of NAFLD. In this study, adult male rabbits were fed for 8 weeks a high-fat diet rich in cholesterol to induce NAFLD.
Signs of NAFLD were associated with an increased ROS concentration and an altered purine metabolism characterised by an increase in hypoxanthine, and in plasma uric acid and hepatocyte hypoxanthine. This phenomenon is understood as a compensatory series of events secondary to the establishment of oxidative stress associated with the chronic establishment of fatty liver disease.
