Of Mice and Men: A Review of Dietary Murine Models of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and How It Correlates to Human Disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is a problem of increasing significance worldwide and is comprised of a spectrum of disease from hepatic statuses to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, cirrhosis and even hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). NAFLD has become one of the most common causes of liver disease and is related to the increasing prevalence of obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia and sedentary lifestyle. As there are no approved medical treatments for NAFLD at this time and the information is limited regarding the molecular mechanisms driving disease progression there has been extensive research using murine models of NAFLD to mimic the human disease. Furthermore, there is a paucity of molecular markers that can reliable predict NAFLD and the progression within this spectrum of disease to endstage liver disease. This article will review the different dietary murine models of NAFLD and how they relate to human NAFLD and longitudinal means of measuring disease prediction and progression.