Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver in the Pathogenesis of Diabetes

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [1] is prevalent worldwide and is recently one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease in the occident due to obesity-related epidemic and metabolic syndrome [2]. NAFLD presents with different phenotypes and may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Moreover, it may be the leading cause for liver transplant in the next decade [3]. NAFLD was formerly identified in 1980, when Ludwig et al. described a small series of patients with liver histology characterized by fat accumulation, hepatic necroinflammation, and, in most cases, fibrosis, in the absence of a history of excessive alcohol consumption [4].