Epicatechin Protects against Corticosteroid Induced Hepatic Steatosis.

Epicatechin, the flavonol derived from chocolate, can improve endothelial function, decrease inflammation and potentially improve insulin resistance [1]. It has also been shown to improve skeletal muscle and hepatic AMPK activity in diabetic mice [2]. Recently our group and others have shown that the stimulation of hepatic AMPK can block hepatic steatosis from fructose [3] or high fat diet [4]. This led us to hypothesize that epicathecin will also have a beneficial role in reducing steroid-induced fatty liver by a similar activation of AMPK.