Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 May;48(5):829-34.
doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2008.01.016. Epub 2008 Feb 12.

Relationship of steatosis grade and zonal location to histological features of steatohepatitis in adult patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Naga Chalasani  1 , Laura Wilson, David E Kleiner, Oscar W Cummings, Elizabeth M Brunt, Aynur Unalp; NASH Clinical Research Network
Collaborators, Affiliations

Relationship of steatosis grade and zonal location to histological features of steatohepatitis in adult patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Naga Chalasani et al. J Hepatol. 2008 May.

Abstract

Background/aims: The relationship between severity and zonal location of steatosis and the presence of steatohepatitis and various histological features that define NASH has not been formally studied.

Methods: We conducted a study to examine the relationship of severity and zonal location of steatosis to the presence of NASH and to other histological features that define NASH in adult patients with NAFLD. Steatosis was graded as mild, moderate or severe. We examined the relationship between severity and zonal location of steatosis and the following: lobular inflammation, presence of ballooning, Mallory bodies, fibrosis score, and definite steatohepatitis.

Results: Mild, moderate and severe steatosis was present in 44%, 31% and 25% of biopsies, respectively. Definite steatohepatitis was present in 59% and advanced fibrosis in 29% of liver biopsies. Increasing levels of steatosis severity were positively associated with lobular inflammation (p<0.0001), zone 3 fibrosis (p<0.001), and definite steatohepatitis (p=0.02), but were unrelated to ballooning, Mallory bodies, or advanced fibrosis. As compared to zone 3 steatosis, pan-acinar steatosis was more often associated with ballooning, Mallory bodies, and advanced fibrosis.

Conclusions: Patients with severe steatosis are more likely to have steatohepatitis. More studies are needed to confirm this observation and to explore its significance.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Matteoni CA, Younossi ZM, Gramlich T, Boparai N, Liu YC, McCullough AJ. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a spectrum of clinical and pathological severity. Gastroenterology. 1999;116:1413–1419. - PubMed
    1. Teli MR, James OF, Burt AD, Bennett MK, Day CO. The natural history of non-alcoholic fatty liver: a follow-up study. Hepatology. 1995;22:1714–1719. - PubMed
    1. McCullough AJ. Update on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2002;34:255–262. - PubMed
    1. Kleiner DE, Brunt EM, Van Natta M, Behling C, Contos MJ, Cummings OW, et al. Design and validation of a histological scoring system for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology. 2005;41:1313–1321. - PubMed
    1. Vuppalanchi R, Cummings OW, Ulbright T, Saxena R, Martis N, Jones DR, et al. Hepatic steatosis. Relationship among histological, radiological and biochemical assessments. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2007;41:206–210. - PubMed

Publication types