[Endocrine abnormalities in liver diseases].

The liver is an organ implicated in a wide range of functions including protein, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism as well as hormone modification and degradation. Hence, liver disorders, comprising inflammatory processes and liver failure, may significantly influence endocrine homeostasis. Liver dysfunction leads to impaired protein synthesis, including hormone production disorders. Furthermore, endocrine disorders may be causally connected not only with primary liver disease, but they may also develop secondary to liver disease therapy. On the other hand, endocrine glands influence cell metabolism and distribution of body fat, and therefore, may contribute to development of liver diseases, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The increased incidence of these diseases is inseparably related to growing epidemic of obesity. The aim of this review is to discuss changes in endocrine homeostasis in the presence of liver dysfunction. According to vast literature regarding glucose homeostasis and adipokines in liver diseases, this problem will not be discussed in our review.