NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE, MODERN VIEWS

Abstract

This article presents a literary review of the problem of non-alcoholic fatty
liver disease, which is a polyetiological disease. Excessive consumption of foods
rich in animal fats and easily digestible carbohydrates leads to the accumulation of
large amounts of free fatty acids from the gastrointestinal tract into the blood and
further into the tissues, resulting in steatosis. Inflammatory mediators, actively
released by adipose tissue, directly damage the membranes of hepatocytes, which
leads to the accumulation of fibrous tissue in the liver. The main feature of this
disease is that it is often asymptomatic and is diagnosed incidentally on the basis of
laboratory or instrumental studies performed in patients with metabolic syndrome.
Being a very common pathology, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease requires a
thorough study of the mechanisms of its pathogenesis and the search for the most
optimal non-invasive methods for identifying and evaluating complex forms
(steatohepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis).