The article from our colleague Evi Koene is now online available and will be published in Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care with the following title: “Novel insights in intestinal and hepatic fructose metabolism: from mice to men“.
The full article can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3390/biom11111680
Read the abstract below:
Purpose of review: The rise in fructose consumption in parallel with the current epidemic of obesity and related cardiometabolic disease requires a better understanding of the pathophysiological pathways that are involved.
Recent findings: Animal studies have shown that fructose has various effects on the intestines that subsequently affect intrahepatic lipid accumulation and inflammation. Fructose adversely affects the gut microbiome – as a producer of endotoxins and intermediates of de novo lipogenesis – and intestinal barrier function. Furthermore, intestinal fructose metabolism shields fructose away from the liver. Finally, fructose 1-phosphate (F1-P) serves as a signal molecule that promotes intestinal cell survival and, consequently, intestinal absorption capacity. Intervention and epidemiological studies have convincingly shown that fructose, particularly derived from sugar-sweetened beverages, stimulates de novo lipogenesis and intrahepatic lipid accumulation in humans. Of interest, individuals with aldolase B deficiency, who accumulate F1-P, are characterized by a greater intrahepatic lipid content. First phase II clinical trials have recently shown that reduction of F1-P, by inhibition of ketohexokinase, reduces intrahepatic lipid content.
Summary: Experimental evidence supports current measures to reduce fructose intake, for example by the implementation of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, and pharmacological inhibition of fructose metabolism to reduce the global burden of cardiometabolic disease.