Intracellular traffic jam : cholesterol accumulation as cause for chronic inflammatory diseases

A rise in obesity has brought with it a rise in the incidences of fatty liver disease. Some people go on to develop liver inflammation, or non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis (NASH), which can lead to severe liver failure or liver cancer and is currently untreatable. This dissertation explores the mechanisms that cause liver inflammation. It appears that an accumulation of cholesterol in the lysosomes (waste disposal system) of Kupffer cells is linked to a heightened inflammatory response. An effective method to treat this lysosomal cholesterol accumulation was recently discovered. This study could therefore contribute to the development of specific therapies to prevent fat accumulation in the macrophages and therefore prevent liver inflammation.