The involvement of stress and central neuropeptide on the progression of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

人们普遍认为非酒精性脂肪性肝炎（NASH）的病因尚不清楚。本研究探讨了应激或中枢神经肽对NASH进展的影响。我们在大鼠急性脂肪肝模型上证明，抑制应激显著加重肝功能，内源性促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子（CRF）参与其中，该因子被称为大脑中的神经肽。我们也发现，在NASH模型中，反复约束应激有使肝脏脂肪改变恶化的趋势。虽然NASH的病因尚不清楚，但应激可能与NASH的发展有关。

It is generally accepted that the etiology of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) remains to be unknown. The involvement of stress or central neuropeptide on the progression for NASH was investigated in this study. We have demonstrated that restraint stress significantly aggravated liver function on acute fatty liver model in rats and an endogenous corticotropine releasing factor (CRF), which is known as a neuropeptide in the brain was involved. We have also shown that repeated restraint stress has a tendency to make worse fatty change of liver in NASH model. Although the etiology of NASH remains to be elucidated, stress might be involved in the progression for NASH.