Animal models of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis.

As occurs in people, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated strongly with obesity, diabetes, and dyslipidemia in experimental animals. There are many animal models that have been used to investigate the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Most of this work has used mice or rats that are fed diets high in fat or carbohydrates, or mice that exhibit a genetic deficiency of a satiety factor such as leptin, 5-adenosylmethionine,or enzyme deficiencies in fatty acid oxidation. The purpose of this article is to update information regarding animal models in the pathogenesis of NAFLD.