A new study made by a research team from the People's Hospital of Wuhan University found that a molecule named "CFLAR", which regulates the body's natural immunity, can significantly improve and reverse the course of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The research results has been published in the journal Nature Medicine. 

NASH develops from the so-called “rich disease", i.e. nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It is a kind of chronic liver disease with the highest incidence in China. More than 150 million patients in China have this disease at present. Until now, its specific pathogenesis was not known, and there were no effective therapeutical procedures for the disease. 

But after eight years of research, the team, led by Li Hongliang, found that the molecule "CFLAR" is a member of the body's natural immune regulatory network, and "CFLAR" can significantly inhibit the occurrence and development of NASH, prevent further liver fibrosis and insulin resistance by blocking the activation of one enzyme.  

In animal experiments, NASH not only has been significantly improved, but also achieved to be reversed by regulating the molecule ,"CFLAR”. 

The journal Nature Medicine considers the study made by Chinese scientists another important breakthrough in the field of liver metabolic disease in the world. It has provided a new understanding for the disease, and has also laid a theoretical foundation for the research and development of specialized drugs of target therapy in the future.