Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

LIVER

Natural history of NAFLD: knowns and unknowns

Although nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most prevalent liver disease worldwide, there is a paucity of good-quality data on its natural history and most studies to date have reported on retrospective data. Robust data are required to inform regulatory end points, trial design and models of care.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Natural history of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

References

  1. EASL, EASD & EASO. EASL–EASD–EASO Clinical Practice Guidelines for the management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. J. Hepatol. 64, 1388–1402 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Lazarus, J. V. et al. Advancing the global public health agenda for NAFLD: a consensus statement. Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-021-00523-4 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Sanyal, A. J. et al. Prospective study of outcomes in adults with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. N. Engl. J. Med. 385, 1559–1569 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bruden, D. J. T. et al. Risk of end-stage liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver-related death by fibrosis stage in the hepatitis C Alaska Cohort. Hepatology 66, 37–45 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Rasmussen, D. N. et al. Prognostic performance of 7 biomarkers compared to liver biopsy in early alcohol-related liver disease. J. Hepatol. 75, 1017–1025 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ioannou, G. N., Green, P., Kerr, K. F. & Berry, K. Models estimating risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with alcohol or NAFLD-related cirrhosis for risk stratification. J. Hepatol. 71, 523–533 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Tsochatzis, E. A., Bosch, J. & Burroughs, A. K. Liver cirrhosis. Lancet 383, 1749–1761 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. European Association for the Study of the Liver. EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines on non-invasive tests for evaluation of liver disease severity and prognosis – 2021 update. J. Hepatol. 75, 659–689 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Majumdar, A., Campos, S., Gurusamy, K., Pinzani, M. & Tsochatzis, E. A. Defining the minimum acceptable diagnostic accuracy of noninvasive fibrosis testing in cirrhosis: a decision analytic modeling study. Hepatology 71, 627–642 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emmanuel A. Tsochatzis.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

E.A.T. serves on advisory boards for Engitix, Intercept, Gilead, NovoNordisk, Orphalan and Pfizer, and has received speaker fees from Intercept, Gilead, Oprhalan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tsochatzis, E.A. Natural history of NAFLD: knowns and unknowns. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 19, 151–152 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-021-00565-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-021-00565-8

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing