Volume 10 Issue 2
Simple Sugar Intake and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Epidemiological and Mechanistic Insight
Juan Carlos Laguna, Marta Alegret and Núria Roglans
1Unit of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutic Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Avda. Joan XXIII s.n., 08028 Barcelona, Spain
2Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB), University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain
3Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, Institute of Health Carlos III, Spanish Government, Diet and Atherosclerosis Node, Barcelona 08036, Spain
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Sugar intake has dramatically increased during the last few decades. Specifically, there has been a clear trend towards higher consumption of fructose and high fructose corn syrup, which are the most common added sugars in processed food, soft drinks and other sweetened beverages. Although still controversial, this rising trend in simple sugar consumption has been positively associated with weight gain and obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Interestingly, all of these metabolic alterations have also been related to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. The purpose of this review is to discuss the evidence coming from epidemiological studies and data from animal models relating the consumption of simple sugars, and specifically fructose, with an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and to gain insight into the putative molecular mechanisms involved.
Keywords:fructose; high-fructose corn syrup; hepatocellular carcinoma; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); obesity; insulin resistance