[NASH -- nonalcoholic steatohepatitis].

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis describes a hepatic disorder with the typical characteristics of an alcoholic pathogenesis without alcohol consumption. It was first described in 1962 and named NASH by Ludwig et al. 1980. Many researchers worked on this disease since this time. It represents the hepatic manifestation of the syndrome X. The pathogenesis is a two-hit phenomenon. The first hit leads to steatosis hepatis and makes the liver vulnerable to the second hit. Central factors of the second hit are oxygen-radicals, oxidative stress, lipid-peroxidation and cytokines. The exact pathogenic mechanisms are still unknown. NASH is a hepatic disease which can end up in liver cirrhosis and liver failure. Up to now a curative drug therapy does not exist. The poor prognosis in some cases, the increasing incidence in western populations and the lack of therapeutic options renders NASH to a serious problem. The aim of this article is to show the actual knowledge of this disease, especially focussed on the pathogenesis, by review of the literature from 1979 up to the present time.