REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Inflammation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1581582
Lactate and lactylation in liver diseases: energy metabolism, inflammatory immunity and tumour microenvironment
Provisionally accepted
- School of Medicine, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China, Jingzhou, China
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Liver diseases pose a significant threat to human health. Lactate, a byproduct of glycolysis, serves various biological functions, including acting as an energy source, a signaling molecule, and a substrate for lactylation. Lactylation is a novel lactate-dependent post-translational modification that plays a role in tumor proliferation, the regulation of immune cell function, and the modulation of gene expression. In this paper, we summarize the roles of lactate and lactylation in energy metabolism, inflammatory immunity, and the tumor microenvironment, while also elucidating recent research advancements regarding lactate and lactylation in the context of hepatic fibrosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Furthermore, lactate and lactylation are proposed as promising new targets for the treatment of liver diseases.
Keywords: Lactate, lactylation, Liver Diseases, Metabolism, immunology
Received: 22 Feb 2025; Accepted: 21 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cheng, Xiao, Wang, Wang and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Minlan Yang, School of Medicine, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China, Jingzhou, China
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