Epigenetics in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and the related metabolic disorders

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an increasingly recognized clinical syn-drome, which is tightly associated with hepatic insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The pathogenesis of NAFLD and the related metabolic disorders remains unclear. C, ene levels are regulated by epigenetic modifi-cation,which is affected by environmental factors and different diets. Promoters of COX7AI, PGC-1α and NDUFB6,indicated by previous studies, are hypermethylated in skeletal muscle or islet from patients with type 2 d iabetes. And the reduction of expression of these genes play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of insu-lin resistance. Moreover, microRNAs expression are dysregulated in NAFLD, which are involved in metabolic regulation of glucose homeostasis and lipid metabolism. Thus, epigenetic modification plays a critical role in the pathogensis of NAFLD and the related glucose and lipid metabolism disorders. Key words: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Insulin resistance;  Epigenetics; DNA methylation;  MicroRNA