scholarly journals Developmental Programming of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: The Effect of Early Life Nutrition on Susceptibility and Disease Severity in Later Life

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minglan Li ◽  
Clare M. Reynolds ◽  
Stephanie A. Segovia ◽  
Clint Gray ◽  
Mark H. Vickers

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is fast becoming the most common liver disease globally and parallels rising obesity rates. The developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis have linked alterations in the early life environment to an increased risk of metabolic disorders in later life. Altered early life nutrition, in addition to increasing risk for the development of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in offspring, is now associated with an increased risk for the development of NAFLD. This review summarizes emerging research on the developmental programming of NAFLD by both maternal obesity and undernutrition with a particular focus on the possible mechanisms underlying the development of hepatic dysfunction and potential strategies for intervention.

2014 ◽  
Vol 307 (1) ◽  
pp. R26-R34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Z. Alfaradhi ◽  
Denise S. Fernandez-Twinn ◽  
Malgorzata S. Martin-Gronert ◽  
Barbara Musial ◽  
Abigail Fowden ◽  
...  

Changes in the maternal nutritional environment during fetal development can influence offspring's metabolic risk in later life. Animal models have demonstrated that offspring of diet-induced obese dams develop metabolic complications, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In this study we investigated the mechanisms in young offspring that lead to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Female offspring of C57BL/6J dams fed either a control or obesogenic diet were studied at 8 wk of age. We investigated the roles of oxidative stress and lipid metabolism in contributing to fatty liver in offspring. There were no differences in body weight or adiposity at 8 wk of age; however, offspring of obese dams were hyperinsulinemic. Oxidative damage markers were significantly increased in their livers, with reduced levels of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase-1. Mitochondrial complex I and II activities were elevated, while levels of mitochondrial cytochrome c were significantly reduced and glutamate dehydrogenase was significantly increased, suggesting mitochondrial dysfunction. Offspring of obese dams also had significantly greater hepatic lipid content, associated with increased levels of PPARγ and reduced triglyceride lipase. Liver glycogen and protein content were concomitantly reduced in offspring of obese dams. In conclusion, offspring of diet-induced obese dams have disrupted liver metabolism and develop NAFLD prior to any differences in body weight or body composition. Oxidative stress may play a mechanistic role in the progression of fatty liver in these offspring.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
So-Ryoung Lee ◽  
Kyung-Do Han ◽  
Eue-Keun Choi ◽  
Seil Oh ◽  
Gregory Y. H. Lip

AbstractWe evaluated the association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and incident atrial fibrillation (AF) and analyzed the impact of NAFLD on AF risk in relation to body mass index (BMI). A total of 8,048,055 subjects without significant liver disease who were available fatty liver index (FLI) values were included. Subjects were categorized into 3 groups based on FLI: < 30, 30 to < 60, and ≥ 60. During a median 8-year of follow-up, 534,442 subjects were newly diagnosed as AF (8.27 per 1000 person-years). Higher FLI was associated with an increased risk of AF (hazard ratio [HR] 1.053, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.046–1.060 in 30 ≤ FLI < 60, and HR 1.115, 95% CI 1.106–1.125 in FLI ≥ 60). In underweight subjects (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2), higher FLI raised the risk of AF (by 1.6-fold in 30 ≤ FLI < 60 and by twofold in FLI ≥ 60). In normal- and overweight subjects, higher FLI was associated with an increased risk of AF, but the HRs were attenuated. In obese subjects, higher FLI was not associated with higher risk of AF. NAFLD as assessed by FLI was independently associated with an increased risk of AF in nonobese subjects with BMI < 25 kg/m2. The impact of NAFLD on AF risk was accentuated in lean subjects with underweight.


Author(s):  
Søren Møller ◽  
Nina Kimer ◽  
Thit Kronborg ◽  
Josephine Grandt ◽  
Jens Dahlgaard Hove ◽  
...  

AbstractNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) denotes a condition with excess fat in the liver. The prevalence of NAFLD is increasing, averaging > 25% of the Western population. In 25% of the patients, NAFLD progresses to its more severe form: nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and >25% of these progress to cirrhosis following activation of inflammatory and fibrotic processes. NAFLD is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and the metabolic syndrome and represents a considerable and increasing health burden. In the near future, NAFLD cirrhosis is expected to be the most common cause for liver transplantation. NAFLD patients have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease as well as liver-related morbidity. In addition, hepatic steatosis itself appears to represent an independent cardiovascular risk factor. In the present review, we provide an overview of the overlapping mechanisms and prevalence of NAFLD and cardiovascular disease.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Limin Wei ◽  
Xin Cheng ◽  
Yulong Luo ◽  
Rongxuan Yang ◽  
Zitong Lei ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Although recent evidence suggests that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with insulin resistance and an increased risk of diabetes, the association between lean NAFLD and incident diabetes is unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether lean NAFLD and overweight/obese NAFLD have similar or dissimilar effects on the risk of new-onset diabetes.Methods: A longitudinal study was performed in 14,482 euglycemic adults who participated in a health check-up program. Fatty liver was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography. The outcome of interest was incident diabetes.Cox proportional hazards regression models were applied to calculate HRs with 95% CIs for future diabetes risk.Results: During the median 6.0 years of follow-up, 356 cases of diabetes occurred. Despite a low probability of hepatic fibrosis indicated by the BAAT score, lean NAFLD was positively associated with an increased risk of diabetes. Moreover, after adjusting for sociodemographic and potential confounders, the fullyadjusted HRs (95% CIs) for incident diabetes between lean NAFLD and overweight/obese NAFLD to the reference (lean without NAFLD) were 2.58 (95% CI 1.68 to 3.97) and 2.52 (95% CI 1.79 to 3.55), respectively. In post hoc analysis, the HR (95% CI) for diabetes comparing lean NAFLD to obese/overweight NAFLD was 1.02 (95% CI 0.68 to 1.54, p = 0.909). The results were robust to challenges in multiple subgroup analyses and appeared to be more pronounced for female participants (p for interaction = 0.005).Conclusions: In this cohort study, lean patients with NAFLD had a risk of incident type 2 diabetes similar to that of overweight/obese ones with NAFLD. These findings suggest that lean NAFLD is not a benign condition. Further investigations are needed to gain a better understanding of the pathogenesis and natural history of NAFLD in lean subjects.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Fan Hsu ◽  
Lee-Yan Sheen ◽  
Hung-Jen Lin ◽  
Hen-Hong Chang

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a disease of attention because of increase in prevalence from 20% to 41%. The clinical and pathological conditions in patients with NAFLD range from steatosis alone to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with or without fibrosis to hepatic cancer. In the United States, NAFLD was the second-leading indication for liver transplant between 2004 and 2013. Although imaging studies such as magnetic resonance elastography and the use of diagnostic panels and scoring systems can provide a fairly accurate diagnosis of NAFLD, there are few treatment options for patients with mild to moderate disease other than lifestyle modification. Many of the currently used medical treatments have been shown to cause severe side effects and some have been shown to be associated with increased risk for certain types of cancer. In recent years, a number of traditional Chinese herbal treatments have been examined for their potential uses as treatment for NAFLD. In this review, we provide a general overview of NAFLD and a survey of Western pharmacologic drugs currently used to treat the disease as well as the results of recent studies on the effectiveness of traditional Chinese herbal remedies for managing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (Suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianna Mazzotti ◽  
Maria Turchese Caletti ◽  
Anna Simona Sasdelli ◽  
Lucia Brodosi ◽  
Giulio Marchesini

Background: The accumulation of fat droplets in the hepatic parenchyma is driven by several factors, synergistically acting to increase triglyceride flow to the liver (diet and metabolic factors, endotoxemia from gut microbiota, genetic factors). Key Messages: In the presence of unhealthy lifestyles and behavioral factors, leading to enlarged adipose tissue and insulin resistance (IR), both lipolysis and de novo lipogenesis are expected to increase the risk of hepatic lipid depots, in association with high calorie (either high-fat or high-carbohydrate) diets. The gut microbiota may also be involved via obesity, IR and hepatic inflammation generated by gut-derived toxic factors. Finally, several data also support a primary role of genetic factors. A few gene polymorphisms have also been associated with the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease development and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis progression to more fibrosis and advanced liver disease. In a few cases (e.g., patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing 3/adiponutrin), steatosis carries a high risk of both liver disease and cardiovascular morbidity/mortality; in other cases (e.g., transmembrane 6 superfamily 2 human gene), dissociation has been observed between the increased risk of liver disease versus cardiovascular disease. Conclusions: A variable interplay between the genetic background and the metabolic milieu is the likely physiopathologic mechanism involved in individual cases, which must be considered for implementing effective treatment strategies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 2218-2225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ningjian Wang ◽  
Yi Chen ◽  
Zhiyuan Ning ◽  
Qin Li ◽  
Bing Han ◽  
...  

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