Fatty Liver in Obesity: Long-lifestyle Follow-up (FLiO)

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a condition of excessive hepatic lipid accumulation in subjects that consume less than 20g ethanol per day, without other known causes as drugs consumption or toxins exposure. In Western countries, the rate of this disease lies about 30% in the general adult population. The process of developing NAFLD can start from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which eventually can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in the absence of alcohol abuse. Liver biopsy is considered the "gold standard" of steatosis, fibrosis and cirrhosis. However, it is rarely performed because it is an invasive procedure and investigators are focusing in the application of non-invasive liver damage scores for diagnosis. The pathogenesis of NAFLD is multifactorial and triggered by environmental factors such as unbalanced diets and overnutrition as well as by lack of physical activity in the context of a genetic predisposition. Nowadays, the treatment of NAFLD is based on diet and lifestyle modifications. Weight loss, exercise and healthy eating habits are the main tools to fight NAFLD. Nevertheless, there is no a well characterized dietary pattern and further studies are necessary. With this background, the general aim of this project is to increase the knowledge on the influence of nutritional/lifestyle interventions in obese patients with NAFLD, as well as contribute to identify non-invasive biomarkers/scores to early diagnosis of this pathology in future obese people.