Research

Hormonal

Industrial trans fatty acids stimulate cholesterol synthesis in the liver by activating SREBP2-mediated gene regulation, leading to increased hepatic cholesterol concentrations and steatosis.

Consuming industrial trans fats may cause your liver to overproduce cholesterol by activating specific genes (SREBP2), contributing to fatty liver and high blood cholesterol levels.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In cultured hepatocytes and adipocytes, industrial trans fatty acids, but not cis-unsaturated fatty acids or SFAs, stimulate the cholesterol synthesis pathway by activating sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) 2–mediated gene regulation.
Antwi‐Boasiako Oteng et al. · Advances in Nutrition · 2019

Why this rating

Supported by in vitro and animal studies with consistent findings on SREBP2 activation.

Source

Mechanisms of Action of trans Fatty Acids

Antwi‐Boasiako Oteng et al. · Advances in Nutrition · 2019

DOI 10.1093/advances/nmz125

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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