Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease as a Cause and Consequence of Metabolic Syndrome

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The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), one of the most common liver diseases, is rapidly increasing worldwide, parallel to the global obesity epidemic. NAFLD can progress to steatohepatitis, which is a more severe form of liver disease characterized by hepatocyte injury, inflammation, and fibrosis. NAFLD is closely related to metabolic syndrome (MetS)/insulin resistance, and these relationships are the subject of active research. Other than in MetS, visceral adiposity and pro-inflammatory state are also key in the development of NAFLD. In addition to human genetic variants linked to NAFLD risk to date are genes involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism, providing support for the hypothesis that NAFLD is fundamentally a metabolic disease.