Summary
Over the past two decades, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most common chronic liver disorder in children, paralleling rising obesity rates but also reflecting changes in modern diets. Beyond excess calories, high intake of linoleic acid (LA) and arachidonic acid (AA)—fats abundant in processed foods and seed oils—appears to play a key role. When these fats become oxidized during food processing, cooking, or metabolism, they form bioactive compounds such as oxidized linoleic acid metabolites (OXLAMs) and oxidized AA derivatives. Experimental and clinical evidence shows that these oxidized fatty acids promote oxidative stress, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and liver cell injury. Elevated levels of oxidized LA metabolites have been detected in children with NAFLD, supporting a direct link between modern dietary fat composition, oxidative byproducts, and the development and progression of pediatric fatty liver disease.
PMID: 36263326
PMCID: PMC9573982
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1019204
Abstract
During the last two decades, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged as the most common hepatic disease in pediatrics, mainly owing to the rising prevalence of pediatric obesity. Epidemiological studies have shown that the progressive increase in NAFLD prevalence is associated not only with obesity but also with changes in dietary habits experienced by all age groups, characterized by the increased intake of added sugars and certain fatty acids. In this review article, we focus on the effect of oxidized fatty acids deriving from linoleic acid and arachidonic acid on the pathogenesis and progression of NAFLD in youth.
Santoro N, Feldstein AE. The role of oxidized lipid species in insulin resistance and NASH in children. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Oct 3;13:1019204. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1019204. Erratum in: Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Dec 19;15:1461564. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1461564. PMID: 36263326; PMCID: PMC9573982.