Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases

Abstract

The morbidity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing in recently decades.The hepatic steatosis is the main clinical pathological character and is used as the golden standard for the diagnosis of NAFLD.Peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated nuclear receptors which regulate lipid and glucose metabolism as well as inflammation,and are therefore considered to be a therapeutic target of NAFLD.Studies showed that PPARs agonists reduced fat accumulation in the liver,thus reversing NAFLD progress.However,many side effects are noticed for PPARs agonists in the treatment of NAFLD,more studies are needed to improve our understanding of the roles of PPARs in the progress of NAFLD and find out new evidences for its usage in NAFLD. Key words: Peroxisome proliferators activated receptors;  Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease;  Fat accumulation