Introduction to NASH Mouse Models for Research
Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a serious and progressive form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD broadly represents multiple disorders and is marked by excessive fat accumulation in the liver, while NASH is characterized by several pathological changes including inflammation and cell damage in addition to fat accumulation in the liver. As fat accumulates in hepatocytes, a downstream immune response is triggered, leading to inflammation in liver tissue that can potentially lead to scarring and fibrosis.
While the mechanism of NASH progression is not fully understood, the co-existence of obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome increases the risk of developing NASH. NASH mouse models used in preclinical experiments are either diet-induced, genetically engineered, a combination of the two or pharmacological models.
While it is challenging to mimic all the pathological features of human disease, to understand the mechanisms underlying NASH induction and progression, and to develop innovative therapies we established several NASH mouse models representing different stages of disease pathogenesis.
