Activity Change And Action Mechanism Of Serum Xanthine Oxidoreductase In Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Background and AimsNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is defined as the presence of hepatic steatosis that is not due to excessive alcohol consumption, viral hepatitis, use of steatogenic medication, hereditary disorders and other competing etiologies. The septum of NAFLD ranges from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis. Its exact etiology has not been fully clarified. Baseline elevation of serum uric acid was positively and significantly associated with increased risk of incident NAFLD in initially NAFLD-free subjects. Allopurinol, an inhibitor of Xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) can alleviate liver steatosis on the animal model. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between serum XOR as the rate-limiting enzyme in the degradation of purines in humans. MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, serum XOR activity, biochemical index such as serun uric acid and anthropometric parameters such as waist circumference was measured in129patients with NAFLD diagnosed by ultrasonography and71controls.ResultsSerum XOR activity was markedly higher in patients with NAFLD than in the controls, the difference had statistical significance. Stepwise regression analysis showed XOR was an important risk of NAFLD. Serum XOR activity positively correlated with ALT as a marker of liver injury. There was a significant negative correlation between the XOR activity and both the SOD and GSH, while there was a significant positive correlation between XOR activity and the MDA level in the NAFLD patients group. Serum XOR activity positively correlated with waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose as components of metabolic syndrome. Moreover, patients with high XOR activity had a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome.ConclusionXOR played an important role in the etiology pathogenesis of NAFLD. High serum XOR activity might was one of the common mechanisms between the development of NAFLD and metabolic syndrome. These data not only expanded the exact mechanistic understanding of NAFLD, but also assisted to develop new prevention and treatment strategies for this disease. Of course further investigation was needed.