ArticleScientific reports2021
LECT2 as a hepatokine links liver steatosis to inflammation via activating tissue macrophages in NASH.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global research trends and hotspots for leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin-2 from the past to 2023: a combined bibliometric review.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- Key Hepatokines Linking MASLD and Type 2 Diabetes: From Pathophysiological Mechanisms to Therapeutic Modulation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- A LECT2-elutingMaterials today. Bio · 2026Article
- ITPR3 promotes liver fibrosis by damaging hepatocytes via the Ca2+/NF-B/LECT2 pathway.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Immunological mechanisms and emerging therapeutic targets in alcohol-associated liver disease.Cellular & molecular immunology · 2025Review
- Review
- Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Induced by Microplastics: An Endpoint in the Liver-Eye Axis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Hepatokine leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 as a biomarker of insulin resistance, liver enzymes, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in the general population.Journal of diabetes investigation · 2025Article
- The pivotal role of cytokines in liver disease pathogenesis and therapeutic potential.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Associations of Leukocyte-Derived Chemotaxin-2 (LECT2) with Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Syndrome in Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Article
- Elevated LECT2 and PEDF in Pediatric MAFLD: Diagnostic Performance and Metabolic Correlations.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Article
- From MASLD to HCC: What's in the middle?Heliyon · 2024Review
- Article
- Relationship between the changes in hepatokine levels and metabolic effects after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in severely obese patients.Surgery today · 2024Article
- Elevated serum levels of leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 are associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome.Acta diabetologica · 2024Article
- Identification of crosstalk genes relating to ECM-receptor interaction genes in MASH and DN using bioinformatics and machine learning.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2024Article
- Role of LECT2 in exacerbating atopic dermatitis: insight fromFrontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Highlighting the idea of exerkines in the management of cancer patients with cachexia: novel insights and a critical review.BMC cancer · 2023Review
- The Role of Organokines in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes and Their Functions as Molecular Transducers of Nutrition and Exercise.Metabolites · 2023Review
- Tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomic profiling identifies candidate serum biomarkers of drug-induced liver injury in humans.Nature communications · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It remains unclear how hepatic steatosis links to inflammation. Leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2) is a hepatokine that senses fat in the liver and is upregulated prior to weight gain. The aim of this study was to investigate the significance of LECT2 in the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). In human liver biopsy samples, elevated LECT2 mRNA levels were positively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and increased in patients who have steatosis and inflammation in the liver. LECT2 mRNA levels were also positively correlated with the mRNA levels of the inflammatory genes CCR2 and TLR4. In C57BL/6J mice fed with a high-fat diet, mRNA levels of the inflammatory cytokines Tnfa and Nos2 were significantly lower in Lect2 KO mice. In flow cytometry analyses, the number of M1-like macrophages and M1/M2 ratio were significantly lower in Lect2 KO mice than in WT mice. In KUP5, mouse kupffer cell line, LECT2 selectively enhanced the LPS-induced phosphorylation of JNK, but not that of ERK and p38. Consistently, LECT2 enhanced the LPS-induced phosphorylation of MKK4 and TAB2, upstream activators of JNK. Hepatic expression of LECT2 is upregulated in association with the inflammatory signature in human liver tissues. The elevation of LECT2 shifts liver residual macrophage to the M1-like phenotype, and contributes to the development of liver inflammation. These findings shed light on the hepatokine LECT2 as a potential therapeutic target that can dissociate liver steatosis from inflammation.
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