Caffeine and liver fat, inflammation and scarring in mice
What it found
Caffeine reduced liver fat, inflammation and early scarring in mice fed a high-fat, high-sugar diet for 36 weeks.
It also lowered blood sugar and insulin levels in these animals.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Less liver fat in mice
Mice given caffeine had lower body weight, lighter livers and much less fat stored in their liver cells. Liver fat levels were about 2.5 times higher than normal in untreated mice but dropped with caffeine.
Better blood sugar control
Caffeine brought down the high fasting blood sugar and insulin levels seen in the sick mice. This improved their insulin resistance scores back toward normal.
Reduced liver scarring
In mice with liver scarring caused by diet or chemical injections, caffeine lowered markers of tissue damage and reduced the buildup of collagen. The amount of scarring visible under a microscope was much smaller.
A key protein target found
Lab tests showed caffeine binds directly to a liver protein called Dusp9. When researchers removed this protein in mice and cells, caffeine lost most of its helpful effects on fat, sugar and scarring.
Studies in people and animals
Fewer inflammatory signals
Caffeine strongly lowered genes linked to inflammation and immune cell buildup in mouse livers. The same calming effect was seen when human liver cells loaded with fat were treated with caffeine in lab dishes.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that caffeine helps treat fatty liver disease in mice by restoring a specific liver protein called Dusp9.
- Their results provide experimental support for people with early-stage liver scarring to drink black coffee or other caffeine-rich beverages as part of daily management.
How it was done
Fatty liver disease affects nearly one-quarter of adults worldwide and can progress to severe liver damage. Coffee drinking has been linked to better liver health in people, but scientists do not yet know exactly how caffeine works inside the body to help.
The researchers fed male mice a high-fat, high-sugar diet for 36 weeks to cause fatty liver disease. During the final 6 weeks, some mice received caffeine at 75 mg/kg in their drinking water. They also tested caffeine on human liver cells grown in lab dishes.
What it can’t tell you
- These experiments were done in mice and lab-grown human liver cells, so they cannot show what happens in people who drink coffee.
- Because the researchers gave caffeine after the liver disease was already present, this design does not prove caffeine prevents the disease from starting.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of competing interest The authors disclose no conflicts of interest.
- Authors work at
- Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Clinical Medicine, China; Columbia University Irving Medical Center, USA
The paper
- Title
- Caffeine ameliorates metabolic-associated steatohepatitis by rescuing hepatic Dusp9
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Xin X, Chen C, Xu X, et al (2025). Caffeine ameliorates metabolic-associated steatohepatitis by rescuing hepatic Dusp9. Redox biology. doi:10.1016/j.redox.2025.103499Free full textPubMed 39879738DOI
Summary written 1 Oct 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error