LAUSR

Globally, NAFLD is one of the most common liver disorders, with an estimated prevalence rate of more than 30% in men and 15% in women, and an even higher prevalence in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Optimal pharmacologic therapeutic approaches for NAFLD are an urgent necessity. In this study, we showed that compared to healthy controls, hepatic ACSL4 levels in NAFLD patients were found to be elevated. Suppression of ACSL4 expression promoted mitochondrial respiration, thereby enhancing the capacity of hepatocytes to mediate β-oxidation of fatty acids and to minimize lipid accumulation by up-regulating PGC1α. Moreover, we found that abemaciclib is a potent and selective ACSL4 inhibitor, low-dose of abemaciclib significantly ameliorated most of the NAFLD symptoms in multiple NAFLD mice models. Therefore, inhibition of ACSL4 is a potential alternative therapeutic approach for NAFLD.