Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease following liver transplantation

Post-transplant, nonalcoholic hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis are increasingly recognized as a complication of liver transplantation, and the progression of the latter through fibrosis to cirrhosis has been clearly shown. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is independently associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular and liver diseases. While optimal therapy is not yet available in the post-liver transplant setting, knowledge gained in the therapy of NASH in the non-transplant setting can be used to design therapeutic interventions. In addition, early recognition with protocol liver biopsies and an effective preventive strategy by modifying known risk factors implicated in the recurrence of NASH would be the most effective way to curtail the progression of NASH before an effective treatment can be found. Additional rigorous research aimed at elucidating the pathogenesis, natural history, and selection of immunosuppressants for NASH is clearly warranted.