Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Jan 18, 2017; 9(2): 74-79
Published online Jan 18, 2017. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v9.i2.74
Hepatic structural enhancement and insulin resistance amelioration due to AT1 receptor blockade
Vanessa Souza-Mello
Vanessa Souza-Mello, Biomedical Centre, Institute of Biology, Department of Anatomy, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, Brazil
Author contributions: Souza-Mello V solely contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author discloses any conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Vanessa Souza-Mello, RD, PhD, Biomedical Centre, Institute of Biology, Department of Anatomy, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Av. 28 de Setembro 87, Fundos, Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, Brazil. souzamello.uerj@gmail.com
Telephone: +55-21-28688689 Fax: +55-21-28688033
Received: August 27, 2016
Peer-review started: August 29, 2016
First decision: September 27, 2016
Revised: October 27, 2016
Accepted: November 21, 2016
Article in press: November 22, 2016
Published online: January 18, 2017
Processing time: 142 Days and 1 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Intrahepatic renin-angiotensin system activation contributes to insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease onset. ANG II interaction with angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT1R) mediates pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrogenic responses, besides enhancing the oxidative stress, which makes the liver more prone to noxious liver diseases. AT1R blockers mitigate insulin resistance and fatty liver by enhancing beta-oxidation, reducing lipogenesis and controlling inflammation. The impact of the AT1R blockade on liver ACE2-angiotensin (1-7)-MAS receptor axis remains to be fully unraveled.