Endocrine Abstracts

Fatty liver (steatosis) can progress to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, increasing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Growth hormone (GH) deficiency is associated with steatosis, while raising GH reduces steatosis. To date it remains to be determined how GH mediates this hepato-protective effect. To investigate the hepatocyte-specific actions of GH, a mouse model of adult-onset hepatocyte-specific GH receptor knockdown (aHepGHRkd) was generated by treating adu...

In the healthy liver, GH signals through multiple pathways to modulate hepatic function, with JAK2/STAT5b required to maintain circulating IGF1 levels. It has been previously reported that mice with developmental knockout of hepatocyte GHR, JAK2 or STAT5 develop steatosis associated with glucose intolerance, systemic insulin resistance and white adipose tissue (WAT) lipolysis. These changes are thought to be secondary to increased circulating GH, due to loss of IGF1 negative f...