Therapeutic targets in alcohol-associated liver disease: progress and challenges

Abstract

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a complex disease with rapidly increasing prevalence. Although there are promising therapeutic targets on the horizon, none of the newer targets is currently close to an Food and Drug Administration approval. Strategies are needed to overcome challenges in study designs and conducting clinical trials and provide impetus to the field of drug development in the landscape of ALD and alcoholic hepatitis. Management of ALD is complex and should include therapies to achieve and maintain alcohol abstinence, preferably delivered by a multidisciplinary team. Although associated with clear mortality benefit in select patients, the use of early liver transplantation still requires refinement to create uniformity in selection protocols across transplant centers. There is also a need for reliable noninvasive biomarkers for prognostication. Last but not the least, strategies are urgently needed to implement integrated multidisciplinary care models for treating the dual pathology of alcohol use disorder and of liver disease for improving the long-term outcomes of patients with ALD.

Protection of Inonotus hispidus (Bull.) P. Karst. against Chronic Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury in Mice via Its Relieving Inflammation Response

“…Excessive alcohol consumption induced the increase in interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), which belong to the pro-inflammatory factors that strongly promote the development of ALD [9]. ALD, accompanied by lipid Nutrients 2023, 15, 3530 2 of 14 metabolic disorders, induces inflammation [10]. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), an important regulator of fat transport and oxidation, is inactivated by acetaldehyde, which is oxidized from alcohol and is a hub for inflammation and lipid metabolism [11].…”