Lipid lowering effects of iodothyronines: In vivo and in vitro studies on rat liver

Core Tip

Core tip: This review summarizes the recent insights about the mechanisms underlying the lipid lowering action of iodothyronines. In the last decades, extensive studies investigated the possible use of iodothyronines in the treatment of obesity and dysmetabolic syndromes. Since the pharmacological use of thyroid hormones has found severe limitations because of their thyrotoxic effects, the identification of iodothyronines retaining anti-obesity and hypolipemic efficacies, while being devoid of thyrotoxicity, gained great interest. The review discusses the recent studies employing both in vivo and in vitro models of hepatosteatosis, with particular attention to the in vitro studies demonstrating the direct anti-steatotic effect of iodothyronines.