Sex difference in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

摘要

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) emerges as one of the common liver diseases in Western as well as Asian countries. The number of patients is rapidly increasing, and more than one-fifth of the population is thought to suffer from NAFLD in Japan and the USA. Its histological spectrum extends from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis, cirrhosis and eventually hepatocellu-lar carcinoma (HCC). In this spectrum, steatohepatitis and further advanced forms are recognized as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).