Among NAFLD patients without known diabetes or high fasting plasma glucose at or above 7.0 mmol/I, 21% had undiagnosed diabetes and 29% had impaired glucose tolerance. In this population, post-challenge hyperglycemia was associated with NASH and liver fibrosis. Oral glucose tolerance test should be considered in the evaluation of NAFLD patients. / NAFLD is closely related to metabolic syndrome. Using the ethnic-specific IDF criteria, 70% of NAFLD patients had metabolic syndrome, compared to 7% of the general population. A significant proportion of NAFLD patients had body mass index between 23 and 25 kg/m2. The diagnosis of NAFLD may predate the development of different components of metabolic syndrome. / NAFLD patients have lower serum adiponectin level than healthy controls. NASH patients have higher serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) level than those with simple steatosis. The differences in adipokines remained significant after adjustment for traditional metabolic risk factors. These suggest that abnormalities in adipokines may be involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and NASH. On the other hand, genetic polymorphisms of the adiponectin and TNF-alpha genes are not associated with histological severity. / Since advanced fibrosis is less common in Chinese NAFLD patients, performing liver biopsies on every NAFLD patient for disease staging does not appear to be essential or cost-effective. Recently, the NAFLD fibrosis score is developed using 6 clinical parameters including age, BMI, impaired fasting glucose or diabetes, AST/ALT ratio, platelet count and albumin. The score had high negative predictive value of 91% in excluding advanced fibrosis in Chinese NAFLD patients. It may also reduce the burden of liver biopsies in the majority of cases. / Through a series of clinical studies in Chinese nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients in Hong Kong, we demonstrated that nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and advanced fibrosis do occur in Chinese, with around 10% of NAFLD patients having advanced fibrosis, and 80% having necroinflammation. Importantly, up to half of the patients had progression of liver fibrosis upon long-term follow-up. / by Wong Wai Sun. / Adviser: Lik Yuen Henry Chan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-09, Section: B, page: . / Thesis submitted in: May 2008. / Thesis (M.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-263). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / School code: 1307.