Acetic acid helps liver cells burn fat and stop making too much fat, but only if a key switch in the cell called AMPKα is turned on. If that switch is blocked, acetic acid doesn’t work anymore.

In liver cells from rats, blocking a key energy sensor called AMPK stops acetic acid from changing fat levels and fat storage — suggesting that acetic acid needs this sensor to work.

Acetic acid helps reduce fat buildup in rat liver cells, and this only happens when a specific energy-sensing pathway (AMPK) is working — if you block that pathway, the effect goes away.

When rat liver cells are treated with a specific amount of sodium acetate, it turns on a key energy-sensing switch in the cells within a few hours.

Acetic acid might help lower fat buildup in rat liver cells grown in a lab, especially when used at certain amounts for 6 hours.

Eating acetic acid—like what's in vinegar—might help improve metabolism in mice by turning down certain genes in the liver that make sugar and fat.