Natural products target glycolysis in liver disease

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Aug 17:14:1242955. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1242955. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays an important role in the occurrence and development of different liver diseases. Oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) dysfunction and production of reactive oxygen species are closely related to mitochondrial dysfunction, forcing glycolysis to become the main source of energy metabolism of liver cells. Moreover, glycolysis is also enhanced to varying degrees in different liver diseases, especially in liver cancer. Therefore, targeting the glycolytic signaling pathway provides a new strategy for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and liver fibrosis associated with liver cancer. Natural products regulate many steps of glycolysis, and targeting glycolysis with natural products is a promising cancer treatment. In this review, we have mainly illustrated the relationship between glycolysis and liver disease, natural products can work by targeting key enzymes in glycolysis and their associated proteins, so understanding how natural products regulate glycolysis can help clarify the therapeutic mechanisms these drugs use to inhibit liver disease.

Keywords: glycolysis; liver; liver disease; metabolism; natural products.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

The present study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81973840 and 81273748); National science and Technology major projects of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2018ZX10303502); Science and Technology Program of Hebei (223777156D); Sichuan Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Major science and technology projects (2021XYCZ004).