Is the control of dietary cholesterol intake sufficiently effective to ameliorate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease?

Abstract

In our examination of the distribution of abdominal fat, dietary intake and biochemical data in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-obese NAFLD patients without insulin resistance presented a characteristic pattern of dietary intake. Dietary cholesterol intake was superabundant in non-obese patients compared with obese patients, although total energy and carbohydrate intake was not excessive. Namely, excess cholesterol intake appears to be one of the main factors associated with NAFLD development and liver injury. Therefore, the control of dietary cholesterol intake may lead to an improvement in NAFLD, and the NPC1L1 inhibitor ezetimibe might be a promising treatment for NAFLD. We review one pathogenic aspect of lipid metabolism dysregulation in NAFLD and survey new strategies for NAFLD treatment based on the modification of cholesterol metabolism.