The role of steatosis in promoting cellular injury and fibrogenesis in human liver disease

脂肪肝（脂肪变性）很重要，因为它增加了肝脏对引发炎症和纤维化的因素的脆弱性。脂肪变性患者可能自发性发生脂肪性肝炎，这增加了进展为肝硬化的风险和速度，从而导致肝脏相关的发病率和死亡率。此外，脂肪变性显着加剧了由其他药物或感染等引起的肝损伤的严重程度。为了改善脂肪肝患者的预后，重要的是要了解为什么肝脂肪变性会增加更严重肝病的风险。到目前为止，我们对脂肪肝损伤机制的理解大多来自动物模型，这些发现尚未在人类疾病中进行系统评估。除了优化体重外，目前还没有确定的脂肪肝治疗方法。对肝损伤机制的阐明将有助于脂肪肝特异性保护策略的发展。

Lay Description Fatty liver (steatosis) is important because it increases the vulnerability of the liver to factors that trigger inflammation and fibrosis. Patients with steatosis may develop steatohepatitis spontaneously and this increases the risk and rate of progression to cirrhosis, with consequent liver-related morbidity and mortality. In addition, steatosis significantly potentiates the severity of liver damage that is caused by other agents such as drugs or infections. To improve the prognosis of patients with fatty livers, it is important to understand why hepatic steatosis increases the risk for more serious liver disease. To date, much of our understanding of mechanisms of liver injury in fatty liver disease comes from animal models, and these findings have not been systematically evaluated in the human disease. Apart from optimizing body weight, there is no established treatment of fatty liver disease. Delineation of the mechanisms involved in liver injury will allow the development of specific protective strategies for steatotic livers.