The Metabolically Benign and Malignant Fatty Liver

摘要

The epidemics of the major metabolic diseases type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are increasing worldwide and much effort is being undertaken to understand the pathogenesis of these conditions. Both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease share insulin resistance as a common and important risk factor in their natural history. It is now widely accepted that organ cross talk harbors many critical clues that help to better understand the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. In this respect, several studies recently showed that not the increase in body fat mass per se, but the accumulation of fat in the visceral cavity and particularly in the liver, which are conditions commonly accompanied by inflammatory processes, are responsible for the genesis of insulin resistance (1-4).