Mandi: A research team led by Dr Prosenjit Mondal, Assistant Professor, School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, and Dr Debabrata Ghosh from CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, has recently shown that zinc oxide nanoparticles can prevent fat accumulation in the liver and thereby prevent Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). Their work has recently been published in the journal, Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine.
Liver, the largest internal human organ, secretes bile, stores glucose in the form of glycogen, and converts vitamins, minerals and amino acids into their biologically absorbable forms. While hepatitis viral infections and alcohol-induced liver malfunctions used to be the main cause of liver diseases in the past, the dramatic shift towards sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy food habits has caused them to be outpaced by Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or NAFLD.
“NAFLD is a condition in which the body creates too much fat that gets stored in the liver cells, called steatosis, which could lead to scarring or cirrhosis, and eventual liver failure”, says Dr Prosenjit Mondal.
