Managing Chinese Obese Children With Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Main Category: Liver Disease / Hepatitis
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 01 May 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Short-term lifestyle intervention is more effective than short-term vitamin E capsule therapy on NAFLD and so it should be the first step in the management of children with NAFLD.

This study, performed by a team led by Professor Li Liang, is described in a research article to be published on March 14, 2008, in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

NAFLD is likely to reach epidemic proportions in children worldwide in this decade. NAFLD is recognized as a cause of potentially progressive liver damage and may be the hepatic aspect of the metabolic syndrome.

Multiple therapeutic agents such as vitamin E, A-carotene, metformin, PPAR-gamma agonists, and the lipase inhibitor orlistat have been demonstrated to be useful in NAFLD in a small series of cases. Lifestyle intervention (dietary restriction and exercise) has also resulted in improved liver function in patients with NAFLD. Conflicting data on the therapeutic efficacy of the above-mentioned drugs have been reported in the literature.

In the view of the authors, short-term lifestyle intervention and short-term vitamin E capsule therapy has an effect on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese children. Since lifestyle intervention was found to be more effective, it should be the first step in the management of children with NAFLD.

The results of this study are not surprising, since the relation between activity, diet and fatty liver disease is well known. In spite of that, it is still of interest because the therapeutic intervention is limited to one month and the adherence to the program is quite rigorous. This experiment may provide insight into the short-term modification of some indexes of NAFLD that likely precede the improvement of fatty liver disease.

Using an elegant study design, this research was performed by physicians from the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China, and from the Nuote Nutrient Centre, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Reference: Wang CL, Liang L, Fu JF, Zou CC, Hong F, Xue JZ, Lu JR,Wu XM.
Effect of lifestyle intervention on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Chinese obese children.
World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14(10): 1598-1602 http://www.wjgnet. com/1007-9327/14/1598.asp

Correspondence to: Professor Li Liang, the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 57 Zhugan Xiang, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China.

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection for providing a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

About The WJG Press

The WJG Press mainly publishes World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Source: Jing Zhu
World Journal of Gastroenterology