Potential Crosstalk between Fructose and Melatonin: A New Role of Melatonin—Inhibiting the Metabolic Effects of Fructose

Figure 1

Metabolization of fructose in the liver cell. The main transporter of fructose in the liver is Glut-2, which translocates ketohexose to the cytoplasm and is transformed by the enzyme fructokinase to fructose-1-phosphate. After that, it is split into dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glyceraldehyde (triose phosphates). The final step is the production of pyruvate and their transformation to acetyl-CoA by pyruvate dehydrogenase; the latter product is a critical substrate for de novo lipogenesis.