New research reveals a link between excessive alcohol and fatty liver disease

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered how excessive alcohol consumption contributes to fatty liver disease, a condition that affects more than one-third of Americans and can lead to type 2 diabetes and liver cancer. Their study found that alcohol disrupts the enzyme valosin-containing protein (VCP) in rat livers, which normally prevents fat buildup in rat liver cells by recycling damaged proteins and controlling another protein, HSD17β13. When alcohol blocks VCP from working properly, fat droplets accumulate in the rat liver, damaging cells and promoting disease. This breakthrough not only reveals a key biological mechanism but also highlights HSD17β13 as a potential target for future therapies. The research is part of Mayo Clinic’s Precure initiative, which aims to predict and stop diseases before they become severe.
Source: Sandhya Sen, Shaun Weller, Ryan J. Schulze, Donglin Ding, Carol A. Casey, Conrad Weihl, Mark A. McNiven. An ethanol-induced loss of the lipid droplet–associated segregase VCP/p97 leads to hepatic steatosis. Journal of Cell Biology, 2025; 224 (8)