Review Article New Insights Into Nod-Like Receptors (Nlrs) in Liver Diseases
Int J Physiol Pathophysiol Pharmacol 2018;10(1):1-16 www.ijppp.org /ISSN:1944-8171/IJPPP0073857 Review Article New insights into Nod-like receptors (NLRs) in liver diseases Tao Xu1,2*, Yan Du1,2*, Xiu-Bin Fang3, Hao Chen1,2, Dan-Dan Zhou1,2, Yang Wang1,2, Lei Zhang1,2 1School of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China; 2Institute for Liver Disease of Anhui Medi- cal University, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China; 3The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Fu Rong Road, Hefei 230601, Anhui Province, China. *Equal contributors. Received February 1, 2018; Accepted February 19, 2018; Epub March 10, 2018; Published March 20, 2018 Abstract: Activation of inflammatory signaling pathways is of central importance in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Nod-like receptors (NLRs) are intracellular innate im- mune sensors of microbes and danger signals that control multiple aspects of inflammatory responses. Recent studies demonstrated that NLRs are expressed and activated in innate immune cells as well as in parenchymal cells in the liver. For example, NLRP3 signaling is involved in liver ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury and silencing of NLRP3 can protect the liver from I/R injury. In this article, we review the evidence that highlights the critical impor- tance of NLRs in the prevalent liver diseases. The significance of NLR-induced intracellular signaling pathways and cytokine production is also evaluated. Keywords: Nod-like receptors (NLRs), liver diseases, NLRP3 Introduction nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) [13], Non- alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) [14], Ace- The liver is the first organ exposed to orally taminophen (N-acetyl-para-aminophenol) he- administered xenobiotics after absorption from patotoxicity [15], viral hepatitis, primary biliary the intestine, and it is a major site of biotrans- cirrhosis, sclerosing cholangitis, paracetamol- formation and metabolism [1, 2].
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