Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and the cardiometabolic syndrome.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now considered to be the most common liver disease in the United States and involves a spectrum of progressive histopathologic changes. Common risk factors associated with NAFLD include obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Although most patients with NAFLD have simple hepatic steatosis, a significant number develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, which may progress to fibrosis, cirrhosis, or end-stage liver disease. There is increasing evidence that NAFLD is a common feature in patients with the cardiometabolic syndrome, a onstellation of metabolic, cardiovascular, renal, and inflammatory abnormalities in which insulin resistance is thought to play a key role in end-organ pathogenesis. NAFLD is usually diagnosed after abnormal liver chemistry results are found during routine laboratory testing. No therapy has been proven effective for treating NAFLD/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Expert opinion emphasizes the importance of exercise, weight loss in obese and overweight individuals, treatment of hyperlipidemia, and glucose control.
Abdeen
Mohammad Bosem
MB
Department of Internal Medicine,2 University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, Columbia, MO 65212, USA.
Chowdhury
Nazif A
NA
Hayden
Melvin R
MR
Ibdah
Jamal A
JA
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D007378:Interleukins / Q000378:metabolism; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D007378:Interleukins