メタボリックシンドローム関連肝疾患モデル動物の開発と応用 : ヒト病態解析への疾患病理学的アプローチ

Metabolic syndrome （MS） is a worldwide healthcare issue and a dominant risk factor for the development of incurable diseases that affect the entire body. The hepatic manifestations of MS include nonalcoholic fatty liver disease （NAFLD） and its progressive variant nonalcoholic steatohepatitis （NASH）. NASH is known to extend into liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）. To determine the pathogenesis and effective treatment, an excellent animal model of NASH/HCC is required. We recently succeeded to develop two MS associated NASH mice model （TSOD mice and DIAR-MSG mice）. Their clinical course and pathological characters were quite similar to those of human MS-NASH patients. Interestingly, most of them developed HCC in aged,
which pathological and functional characters were identical to those of human HCC. In addition, we established a novel mouse model of HCC based on type １ diabetes （DIAR-nSTZ mice） and reported its histopathological features. To compare these mice models from various aspects, we can highlight specific and useful characters of MS associated liver diseases including hepatocarcinogenesis.