Institute of Digestive Disease and Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, LKS Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
SHHO College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2018;1061:139-147. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-8684-7_11.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a spectrum of diseases, which include simple liver steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is a burgeoning health problem worldwide in line with the trend towards unhealthy diet and increased prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Many animal models that illustrate both the histology and pathology of human NAFLD have been established. It is important to choose an animal model that best conforms to the aim of the study. This chapter presents a critical analysis of the histopathology and pathogenesis of NAFLD and the most commonly used and recently developed animal models of hepatic steatosis, NASH and NAFLD-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (NAFLD-HCC). The main mechanisms involved in the experimental pathogenesis of NAFLD in various animal models were also discussed. This chapter also includes a brief summary of recent therapeutic targets found using animal models. Although current animal models provide important guidance in understanding the pathogenesis and development of NAFLD, future study is essential to develop more precise models that better mimic the disease spectrum for both improved mechanistic understanding and identification of novel therapeutic options.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）是一种疾病谱，包括单纯性肝脂肪变性、非酒精性脂肪性肝炎（NASH）、肝硬化和肝细胞癌（HCC）。随着不健康饮食的趋势以及肥胖和 2 型糖尿病（T2DM）患病率的增加，它已成为全球日益严重的健康问题。已经建立了许多能够说明人类 NAFLD 的组织病理学和病理学的动物模型。选择最符合研究目的的动物模型非常重要。本章对 NAFLD 的组织病理学和发病机制以及最常用和最近开发的肝脂肪变性、NASH 和非酒精性脂肪性肝病诱导的肝细胞癌（NAFLD-HCC）的动物模型进行了批判性分析。还讨论了各种动物模型中 NAFLD 实验发病机制中涉及的主要机制。本章还简要总结了使用动物模型发现的最近的治疗靶点。虽然目前的动物模型为了解 NAFLD 的发病机制和发展提供了重要指导，但未来的研究对于开发更精确的模型以更好地模拟疾病谱以改善对发病机制的理解和确定新的治疗选择是必不可少的。
