Animal Models of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease：A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease （NAFLD） is a metabolic stress-induced liver injury characterized by excessive lipid accumulation in hepatocytes， which is closely related to insulin resistance and genetic susceptibility. It falls into the category of "liver lump" in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. NAFLD affects about 25% of the population worldwide and has become a major burden of the world health care system. However， its exact pathogenesis remains unclear. Conducting the basic research on NAFLD is of great clinical significance and social value. As an important tool for NAFLD research， animal model plays a particularly important role in clarifying the pathophysiological mechanism of NAFLD. In recent years， the modeling methods for NAFLD in China and abroad have been constantly updated， and in particular， certain progress has been made in the duplication of TCM syndrome models. By consulting and sorting out the relevant literature published in recent years in China and abroad， the author summarized the replication methods of NAFLD animal models. This paper reviewed the advantages and disadvantages of models established via dietary induction （high-fat feed， high-fat and high-fructose feed， high-fat and high-cholesterol feed， and methionine choline-deficient feed）， models with genetic defects ［leptin-deficiency （Lepob/Lepob）， autosomal recessive diabetes gene homozygous deficiency （ob/ob）， Alms1 gene （foz/foz） mutation， and FATZO mice］ and exposure to special diets， and models for TCM syndromes （liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome， phlegm-dampness syndrome， blood stasis syndrome， combined phlegm and stasis syndrome， and qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome）， in order to provide reference for the preparation of more scientific， reasonable， economical， and convenient animal models of NAFLD， thus laying a foundation for in-depth study of the pathogenesis， prevention， and treatment of NAFLD.