Commentary
This review by Philippe Lefebvre and Bart Staels (INSERM, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, France) discusses the accumulating evidence of sexual dimorphism in NAFLD. Liver pathophysiology is sexually dimorphic, and male individuals predominantly show more severe stages of non-alcoholic fatty liver, NASH and fibrosis than do female individuals.
This aspect is currently rarely considered in preclinical and clinical studies. Increased awareness of the mechanistic causes of hepatic sexual dimorphism could lead to improved understanding of the biological processes that are dysregulated in NAFLD, to the identification of relevant therapeutic targets and to improved risk stratification of patients with NAFLD undergoing therapeutic intervention.
