Fasting plasma fructose is associated with postprandial ethanol levels and mitochondrial dysfunction: linking fasting fructose to MASLD

In a subset of 49 morbidly obese people from the BARIA cohort, higher fasting plasma fructose is linked to MASLD-associated mitochondrial energy and antioxidant defense dysfunction.

• Why it matters: Dietary fructose is a known risk factor for MASLD, but how fasting fructose levels relate to clinical metabolic disruption and liver-linked mechanisms is unclear.
• What they did: The study analyzed gut microbiota and hepatic transcriptional data in 49 morbidly obese participants, testing associations between fasting plasma fructose, microbial beta diversity/species, and liver gene expression.
• The result: Elevated fasting fructose correlated with polyol pathway downregulation, lipogenic gene upregulation, impaired mitochondrial energy metabolism, and antioxidant defense signatures tied to MASLD-related metabolic disruption.

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