Triclosan leads to dysregulation of the metabolic regulator FGF21 exacerbating high fat diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Significance While exploring triclosan-induced hepatoxicity, this study discovered that exposure to triclosan, in combination with a high-fat diet, causes nutritional imbalance, resulting in the pathogenesis of hepatic steatosis. The underlying mechanism through which triclosan imposes an impact on critical metabolic networks was delineated. The significance of this study lies in the fact that the ubiquitous presence of the environmental contaminant triclosan in conjunction with the prevalence of high consumption of dietary fat, which constitutes a good recipe for the development of fatty liver disease, are common factors encountered in everyday life. The finding that triclosan exacerbates high-fat diet-induced metabolic disorders by disrupting regulation of FGF21 expression provides a basis for a therapeutic approach in treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis.