Neutrophils Promote Metabolic Dysfunction‐Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Through Extracellular Vesicle‐mediated Lipid Transfer

Description

Shrestha and colleagues identify an unexpected courier of fat into the liver in this 2026 study. Fatty liver disease tied to metabolic dysfunction is a leading cause of chronic liver illness. But how neutrophils contribute to early fat buildup was poorly understood. Neutrophils are front-line immune cells. The team found neutrophils soak up fatty acids from their surroundings through two transporter proteins and store them as triglycerides rather than burning them.

These lipid-laden neutrophils then shipped their cargo to liver cells inside extracellular vesicles, tiny released parcels also carrying fat-regulating microRNAs, increasing the liver cells' fat stores. Transferring such neutrophils or their vesicles into mice raised liver fat, and neutrophils from patients with fatty liver disease showed the same lipid-loaded pattern, as did their blood vesicles. A distinct lipid-handling neutrophil subgroup appeared in single-cell data.

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Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13431132