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Semin Liver Dis 2015; 35(02): 132-145
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1550065
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Fibrosis in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Mechanisms and Clinical Implications

Paul Angulo
1   Division of Digestive Disease and Nutrition, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky
,
Mariana Verdelho Machado
2   Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
3   Department of Gastroenterology, Hospital de Santa Maria, CHLN, Lisbon, Portugal
,
Anna Mae Diehl
2   Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History

Publication Date:
14 May 2015 (online)

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Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is tightly associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome in the United States and other Western countries. It is also the liver disease most rapidly increasing in prevalence in the United States, and has become a major indication for liver transplantation worldwide. Compelling evidence shows that the degree of liver fibrosis dictates liver prognosis in NAFLD. This review focuses on fibrosis based on clinical and basic perspectives. The authors summarize the physiopathology of fibrosis development and progression in NAFLD, highlighting its molecular mechanisms, clinical consequences of fibrosis, the diagnostic approach and management strategies.

Keywords

nonalcoholic fatty liver disease - fibrosis - prognosis - pathogenesis
 

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