Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Lingling Ding; Yvonne Oligschlaeger; Ronit Shiri-Sverdlov; Tom Houben

doi:10.1007/164_2020_352

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2022:270:233-269. doi: 10.1007/164_2020_352.

Authors

Lingling Ding¹, Yvonne Oligschlaeger¹, Ronit Shiri-Sverdlov¹, Tom Houben²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Genetics, School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University Medical Center+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
² Department of Molecular Genetics, School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University Medical Center+, Maastricht, The Netherlands. tom.houben@maastrichtuniversity.nl.

PMID: 32185502
DOI: 10.1007/164_2020_352

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and comprises one of the largest health threats of the twenty-first century. In this chapter, we review the current state of knowledge of NAFLD and underline the striking similarities with atherosclerosis. We first describe current epidemiological data showing the staggering increase of NAFLD numbers and its related clinical and economic costs. We then provide an overview of pathophysiological hepatic processes in NAFLD and highlight the systemic aspects of NAFLD that point toward metabolic crosstalk between organs as an important cause of metabolic disease. Finally, we end by highlighting the currently investigated therapeutic approaches for NAFLD, which also show strong similarities with a range of treatment options for atherosclerosis.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Epidemiology; NAFLD; Pathogenesis; Treatment.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Metabolic Syndrome* / epidemiology
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease* / drug therapy
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease* / epidemiology
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease* / etiology