Metabolic Syndrome and Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome since it is strongly associated with overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and cardiovascular complications. Importantly, NAFLD is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in Western countries and it has emerged as an important public health problem. Early diagnosis and treatment of hepatic steatosis are important to prevent the development of this liver disease to a more serious fibrotic states or hepatocellular carcinoma. Nowadays, there are no validated noninvasive diagnostic methods for quantifying NAFLD histological evolution. In this regard, the objectives of our research is 1- to identify new molecular targets involved in the pathogenesis and progression of NAFLD, 2- to investigate whether they can be used as biomarkers for non-invasive diagnostic/prognostic of the different phases of this disease, and 3- to determine the molecular mechanisms involved in their effects on the progression of NAFLD, since the development of hepatic steatosis to the activation of the fibrogenic cascade.