Liver-innervating vagal sensory neurons are indispensable for the development of hepatic steatosis and anxiety-like behavior in diet-induced obese mice
Introduction:
Obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) are frequently comorbid with psychiatric conditions such as anxiety. However, the mechanistic links between metabolic and behavioral dysregulation remain poorly defined. A recent study by Hwang et al. (2025) employed spatially resolved transcriptomics to investigate how liver-innervating vagal sensory neurons contribute to both hepatic steatosis and anxiety-like behaviors in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity.
