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Review
. 2017 Aug 15;8(3):100-107.
doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v8.i3.100.

Fatty liver without a large "belly": Magnified review of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in non-obese patients

Mohamad H Yousef  1 , Alhareth Al Juboori  1 , Abdulmajeed A Albarrak  1 , Jamal A Ibdah  1 , Veysel Tahan  1
Affiliations
Review

Fatty liver without a large "belly": Magnified review of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in non-obese patients

Mohamad H Yousef et al. World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. .

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is well described as a common cause of chronic liver disease, mostly in the obese population. It refers to a spectrum of chronic liver disease that starts with simple steatosis than progresses to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and cirrhosis in patients without significant alcohol consumption. NAFLD in the non-obese population has been increasingly reported and studied recently. The pathogenesis of nonobese NAFLD is poorly understood and is related to genetic predisposition, most notably patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing 33 G allele polymorphism that leads to intrahepatic triglyceride accumulation and insulin resistance. Non-obese NAFLD is associated with components of metabolic syndrome and, especially, visceral obesity which seems to be an important etiological factor in this group. Dietary factors and, specifically, a high fructose diet seem to play a role. Cardiovascular events remain the main cause of mortality and morbidity in NAFLD, including in the non-obese population. There is not enough data regarding treatment in non-obese NAFLD patients, but similar to NAFLD in obese subjects, lifestyle changes that include dietary modification, physical activity, and weight loss remain the mainstay of treatment.

Keywords: Genetic; Hepatic steatosis; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; Nonobese.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflicts of interests to declare.

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