How Ageing Impacts Liver And Leads To Liver Diseases?

Hello, readers! This World Liver Day 2022, we have decided to shed some light on someuseful information regarding the second largest organ in your body, the liver! The liver is thesecond most complicated organ too, of course, after the brain. Let us understand howageing impacts the liver and its functioning. We have done a detailed analysis on this topic,and therefore, we will be quoting the summaries of some research for you, so that you get allthe information right from authentic and reliable sources. At the end of this blog, we will be
telling you some tips that could help you maintain your liver health.

Keep reading to get an in-depth knowledge.

In a recent study, it was found that -
Ageing has been shown to not only enhance vulnerability to acute liver injury but alsoincrease susceptibility of the fibrotic response. Ageing is associated with the severityand poor prognosis of various liver diseases including nonalcoholic fatty liverdisease, alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis C, and liver transplantation.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4736713/

In this review we summarise the most recent achievements on ageing -

Several findings, in both preclinical animal models and on human liver specimens, convergein supporting the presence of specific ageing hallmarks in the diseases involving these hepatic compartments. At the cellular level, a senescent phenotype has been identified in response to ageing that is characterised by a flat appearance, proliferative arrest, and production of specific molecules. Biliary and vascular components, within the liver, have emerged as important determinants of some form of liver disease. The ageing process is represented by the time-dependent decay in physiologic functions of living beings. Several hallmark features have been observed in ageing, such as genetic alterations, mitochondrial impairment, and telomere shortening. The net effect of these cells in the course of diseases is debatable.

In other recent discoveries, it was demonstrated that -

Ageing increases susceptibility to fibrotic response as well as increased vulnerability to acute liver injury. Various liver illnesses, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis C, and liver transplantation, are connected with ageing and bad prognosis.

Let us now understand how ageing impacts Liver -

Ageing And Liver Cells

According to a research by National Library of Medicine , the following things were found -

Lipofuscins are highly cross-linked undegradable protein aggregates that are formed when proteins damaged and denatured by oxidative stress are not degraded inside the liver cells. The volume of the liver cells gradually increases as they approach maturity, but starts to decrease due to ageing. With old age, the number and activation level of Kupffer cells are increased. The function of Kupffer cells is to remove antigen–antibody complexes or nanoparticles such as senescent cell fragments in the liver sinusoidal vascular system. Such lipofuscins cause increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells and reduced cell survivability. Compared with the studies on liver cells, relatively little is known about what kind of effect ageing has on liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs), Kupffer cells, and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Although the number of desmin-positive HSCs goes up with ageing, the number of α-smooth muscle actin (SMA)-positive HSCs is observed to maintain the same level. With old age, the thickness of LSECs is enlarged by 50%, whereas the number and diameter of fenestrations (pores) are reduced.
Studies suggested that ageing negatively influences the function of the liver by causing a substantial morphological change in the sinusoidal vascular system. Also, the area of smooth endoplasmic reticulum is reduced, causing decreased generation of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and reducing the synthesis of microsomal proteins in the liver. Ageing-related changes in liver cells include volume changes, polyploidy (polyploidy nuclei), accumulation of dense bodies (lipofuscin) inside liver cells, a decreased area of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and a declining number and dysfunction of mitochondria.

Acute Liver Injury And Liver Regeneration

Acute liver injury was greater in aged rats compared with younger rats in the acute intraperitoneal ethanol or thioacetamide injection models. Ageing causes alterations of several signal-transduction pathways and changes in the expression of C/EBP and chromatin-remodelling proteins. These age-related alterations may lead to an increase in liver injury and apoptosis after CCl4 treatments. In the sequenced process of liver injury and regeneration, ageing decreases regenerative ability, which significantly delays the restoration of liver function.

Furthermore, a recent study indicated that age-associated change of
CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) family of proteins causes severe liver injury after carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) treatments. Aged mice show increase in repressive histone modifications in livers and subsequent repression of three key regulators of liver functions: C/EBPα, farnesoid X receptor, and telomere reverse transcriptase. Consequently, ageing livers accumulate a multiprotein C/EBPα–Brm–HDAC1 complex that occupies and silences elongation factor 2 (E2F)-dependent promoters, reducing the regenerative capacity of livers in older mice.

Liver regeneration might be initiated by several stimuli, including surgical resections and treatments with CCl4 or mitogens. Recent studies have provided evidence for the crucial role of epigenetic silencing in the age-dependent inhibition of liver proliferation. Furthermore, ageing-associated decline in mitochondrial function has been shown to enhance the vulnerability to injury. In contrast to Liver of younger animals that proliferate to restore liver homeostasis after these injuries, livers of older animals show a significant reduction in proliferation.The The ageing-related changes including increased oxidative stress, increased inflammatory response, accelerated cellular senescence, and progressive organ dysfunction significantly affect cellular responses to injury.

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Things you should know this World Liver Day 2022

What is the job of Liver?

It is the body's internal chemical power plant - Converts food nutrients into energy, hormones, and immune components.
Toxic compounds are neutralised or destroyed, and alcohol is metabolised by Liver.
Hormones and aged blood cells are broken down by it.
Sugars and fats are produced, stored, and released.
Essential proteins, such as blood clotting agents and enzymes, are produced by it.
It releases bile salts to help break down food, which aids digestion.
Vitamins, minerals, and iron are stored by it and are sent to various regions of the body as needed.

Tips for Maintaining Liver Health!

Superfoods, when consumed as part of a well-balanced diet and lifestyle, can help you maintain a healthy weight, improve digestion, and lower cholesterol, all of which are beneficial to your liver. Almonds, Oats, Blueberries, Salmon, Soybeans, Yoghurt, Broccoli, Kidney beans, Spinach, Pumpkin, and Vegetable Juice are among these superfoods.
Being physically active is beneficial in a variety of ways. It can deliver a variety of enjoyable events, as well as energising the body, improving health and wellbeing, and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Adults should get 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical exercise per week, according to guidelines, to help prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver. Walking, cycling, jogging, football, yoga, dancing, gardening, and a variety of other activities are examples of these activities.
Try to avoid smoking.
Get vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B
Avoid taking unnecessary medications

Found this blog interesting and insightful? Check out the other blogs that we have written in the RESEARCH section on our website. You will be able to grasp a lot of knowledge related to your body and the functioning of different organs.
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