Past, present and future perspectives in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

• Published in: Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology Vol. 16; no. 6; pp. 377 - 386
• Main Author: Sanyal, Arun J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-06-2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/4020/1503/1607/2750; 692/4020/2741/288; 692/4020/4021/1607/2751; Alcohol use; Biomedicine; Disease Progression; End Stage Liver Disease - epidemiology; End Stage Liver Disease - etiology; Fatty liver; Gastroenterology; Global Health; Hepatology; Humans; Liver diseases; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - complications; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - epidemiology; Perspective; Prevalence
• ISSN: 1759-5045; 1759-5053
• DOI: 10.1038/s41575-019-0144-8

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was first described as a distinct clinical entity four decades ago. However, the condition has become the centre of attention within hepatology owing to its high prevalence and growing contribution to the burden of end-stage liver disease in the general population. This Perspective provides an overview on the development of knowledge related to NAFLD with a focus on landmark findings that have influenced current paradigms and key knowledge gaps that need to be filled to make progress. Specifically, a timeline of scientific discovery of both basic disease mechanisms (with a focus on human data) and the evolution of knowledge about the clinical course of the disease is provided and related to current approaches to treat and eventually prevent NAFLD.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was first described four decades ago, but it is increasingly important owing to its high prevalence in the general population. This Perspective provides an overview on the development of knowledge related to NAFLD, focusing on landmark findings.