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Immunometabolites

Itaconate trims the fat

Nature Metabolism volume 5, pages 915–916 (2023)Cite this article

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Inflammation is characterized by cell metabolic reprogramming that can influence the outcome of metabolic syndrome-related diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this issue, Weiss et al. discover that preventing the production of the immunomodulatory metabolite itaconate increases liver fat accumulation in mouse models of NAFLD and that treatment with itaconate may promote fat oxidation. This study reveals new therapeutic potential for targeting the itaconate metabolic pathway in NAFLD.

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Fig. 1: Decreased itaconate exacerbates NAFLD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Food and Health, School of Agriculture and Food Science, Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland

    Rory Turner & Martina Wallace

  2. Department of Bioinformatics and Biochemistry, Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

    Thekla Cordes

  3. Cellular Metabolism in Infection, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany

    Thekla Cordes

Authors
  1. Rory Turner
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  2. Thekla Cordes
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  3. Martina Wallace
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Correspondence to Thekla Cordes or Martina Wallace.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Turner, R., Cordes, T. & Wallace, M. Itaconate trims the fat. Nat Metab 5, 915–916 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-023-00819-6

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