The mechanism and therapeutic potential of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 in acute liver injury

Acute liver injury poses a serious threat to the life safety of patients， and currently there is still a lack of satisfactory treatment options. As a cytoprotective transcription factor， nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 （Nrf2） has important potential in the treatment of acute liver injury. Nrf2 exerts a protective effect by inducing the expression of antioxidant enzymes， regulating iron and fatty acid metabolism， protecting mitochondrial function， and inhibiting inflammatory responses， and it can also enhance the antioxidant capacity of the liver and inhibit the progression of acute liver injury by activating antioxidant response element and promoting the expression of the antioxidant enzymes such as heme oxygenase-1， glutathione transferase， and glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit. Nrf2 can modulate acute liver injury caused by different etiologies. Natural compounds such as curcumin and synthetic compounds such as oltipraz can activate Nrf2 through different mechanisms， enhance the antioxidant capacity of the liver， and thus exert a protective effect against acute liver injury. However， there are still various challenges in Nrf2 in the treatment of acute liver injury， and its mechanism of action remains unclear， with most studies in the stage of experimental study. In the future， it is expected to deeply investigate the mechanism of action of the Nrf2 signaling pathway， optimize drug development strategies， improve the clinical application theories for agonists， and provide more effective and precise treatment regimens for patients with acute liver injury.