64 There also have been a number of reports from Japan regarding the utility of angiotensin II type-1 blockers (ARB) in NASH. This application is derived from basic studies which showed the inhibitory effect

of ARB on the progression of fibrosis via inhibition of the activation of hepatic stellate cells.65–67 Morita et al. demonstrated the effect of nateglinide on glucose metabolism, liver function, and liver histology in NASH patients with type 2 diabetes.68 The effects of metformin and thiazolidine derivatives learn more such as pioglitazone and rosiglitazone on NASH were reported in Japan, however, the numbers were small and the trials were uncontrolled. There is the possibility that combination therapies using pantethine and probucol,69 colestimide70 and α-tocopherol71 are useful for NASH; however, the subjects were in small numbers and there was no histological analysis after treatment. Recently, Sanyal et al. reported that administration of vitamin E for 96 weeks administration for non-DM NASH patients significantly improved liver histology compared to placebo, Selleckchem Erlotinib this result being more promising than pioglitazone administration.72 Phlebotomy might be effective in NASH with excessive iron deposition in the liver.73 As mentioned above, the Japan NASH Study Group founded in April 2008 (the

representative: Takeshi Okanoue, Table 1), has started check details the following research projects: (i) nationwide study of 5000 cases of diabetes mellitus; (ii) SNP study of 1000 cases of SS and NASH; (iii) long-term follow-up study of 1000 cases of SS and NASH; (iv) collection of

100 cases of NASH-HCC; (v) biochemical markers of differential diagnosis between SS and NASH; and (vi) therapeutic guidelines based on the individual pathophysiology. Projects i, ii, iii, and iv are going well and we are expecting to present these results, including SNPs, in the near future. Recently, much attention has been paid to NAFLD in Japan because the number of NAFLD patients has been increasing, while non-B, non-C HCC also is increasing gradually. We suspect that NASH might be responsible for this increase in HCC in Japan; however, the precise cause of the increased non B, non C HCC has not yet been established. In this review, we have described the epidemiology and the present status of clinical and basic aspects of NASH/NAFLD in Japan. This study was funded by the grant from by the Ministry of Labor and Welfare Japan. The authors thank all members of the Japan NASH Study Group. ”
“This study examined the natural history of postvascular-phase iso-enhanced lesions (PIELs) on contrast-enhanced sonograms to determine the potential risk and predictive factors for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic liver diseases.