Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the commonest cause of liver disease worldwide, and is rapidly becoming the leading indication for liver transplantation.
SOURCES OF DATA: Original articles, reviews and meta-analyses, guidelines.
AREAS OF AGREEMENT: NAFLD strongly correlates with obesity and insulin resistance; currently, the best management strategy is weight loss and treatment of the metabolic syndrome.
AREAS OF CONTROVERSY: Recent data suggest that the presence of fibrosis and not non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the predictor of clinical outcome.
GROWING POINTS: Many phase 2 and 3 trials are underway. Drugs hoped to be effective are obeticholic acid, elafibranor, glucagon-like peptide-1 analogues and CCR2/5 inhibitors.
AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH: Improved understanding of the pathophysiology of NAFLD should help us identify which patients progress to significant liver disease and to develop therapies to target this population.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 143-56 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | British Medical Bulletin |
Volume | 119 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 19 Aug 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2016 |