Resumen
Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) may progress into liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). NASH has been recognized as a major cause of HCC, which is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. However, the development of drug therapy for NASH and ensuing liver cirrhosis and HCC has been limited due to the lack of reliable preclinical models of the NASH progression. Here, we developed a new diet-induced mouse model of NASH-liver cirrhosis-HCC sequence. Compared with the previous mouse model, this model demonstrated shorter occurrence of NASH, liver cirrhosis, and HCC and more similar pathological characteristics to humans. Considering the similarity to clinicopathological features of human NASH in addition to very high reproducibility, generality, and convenience, our mouse model is expected to be used for the development of novel compounds for the treatment of NASH patients.