Gastroenterolgy
 Obesity-related inflammation and insulin resistance in chronic liver disease
Dr Graeme Macdonald
The two most prevalent liver diseases in Australia are non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Both progress more rapidly in the setting of obesity, insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) however the mechanisms for this relationship with obesity are unclear.
Hypothesis
We hypothesise that:
- visceral adiposity and poor physical capacity contribute to the severity of liver disease through effects on peripheral and hepatic insulin resistance and alterations in serum adipokines and inflammatory modulators and,
- through an exaggerated post-prandial cytokine response
This study aims to assess the effect of diet and physical capacity on peripheral and hepatic insulin resistance; and the serum concentration of pro-inflammatory adipokines, and the response of these to a test meal in lean healthy controls and obese patients with histologically proven non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).
This study will allow us to determine if inflammatory cytokines and the post-prandial response to a meal is associated with disease severity and insulin resistance in patients with chronic liver disease.
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