Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: does sex matter?

The hallmark of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the intrahepatocyte accumulation of lipids with or without necro-inflammatory changes and ballooning [i.e., steatohepatitis or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)], fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is observed in dysmetabolic individuals in the absence of competing causes of chronic liver disease such as excess alcohol consumption, viral infections, autoimmune or hereditary conditions and steatogenic medications (1).