Topic: Metabolic Role of Autophagy in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of NAFLD

Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease (NAFLD) is affecting about 30% adult worldwide. It is the fastest growing cause for liver transplantation and liver cancer. NAFLD covers a disease spectrum from simple steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Currently, there is no FDA approved drugs for NAFLD/NASH treatment. The primary cause of death is cardiovascular diseases in patient with NAFLD.

Multiple metabolic and molecular changes happen simultaneously and synergistically accelerate NAFLD progression. Autophagy is one of these processes that is impaired in patients with NAFLD. Given the important role of autophagy in regulating hepatic glucose, glycogen, and lipid metabolism, as well as its “housekeeping function” in removing damaged organelles, it is believed that impaired autophagy plays a causative role in NAFLD progression, and autophagy-inducing compounds may offer therapeutic benefit for this disease.

A lot of work are still going on and to be done to better understand the mechanisms by which NAFLD decreases autophagy or lysosomal function, the strategy and efficacy to restore autophagy and hepatic metabolism, and the mechanistic link between NAFLD and associated CVD.

In this Special Issue of Hepatoma Research, the role of autophagy in the pathogenesis and treatment of NAFLD, in particular the new updated insights will be discussed by the major experts in this field.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to the following titles.

● Autophagy in hepatic metabolism and liver function
● Autophagy in the pathogenesis of NAFLD
● Autophagy in the treatment of NAFLD
● Chaperon mediated autophagy in NAFLD
● Autophagy in hepatic non-parenchymal cells
● Autophagy in inherited metabolic liver diseases
● Cardiac Autophagy in NAFLD-associated cardiovascular diseases
● Experimental models to assess autophagy in the liver