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World J Hepatol. Nov 8, 2015; 7(25): 2597-2602
Published online Nov 8, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i25.2597
Dietary supplements and pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Present and the future
Mehran Rahimlou, Hoda Ahmadnia, Azita Hekmatdoost
Mehran Rahimlou, Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1948141556, Iran
Hoda Ahmadnia, Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz 7417985336, Iran
Azita Hekmatdoost, Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Technology, National Nutrition and Food Technology, Research Institute Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran 1981619573, Iran
Author contributions: All the authors contributed to this work.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Azita Hekmatdoost, Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Technology, National Nutrition and Food Technology, Research Institute Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, #7, West Arghavan St., Farahzadi Blvd., Tehran 1981619573, Iran. a_hekmat2000@yahoo.com
Telephone: +98-21-22360658 Fax: +98-21-22360657
Received: May 20, 2015
Peer-review started: May 20, 2015
First decision: July 29, 2015
Revised: August 17, 2015
Accepted: October 16, 2015
Article in press: October 19, 2015
Published online: November 8, 2015
Processing time: 173 Days and 14.7 Hours
Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease in children. High prevalence of pediatric obesity and sedentary lifestyle has augmented the incidence of NAFLD in children. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of NAFLD through various mechanisms such as intensification of insulin resistance and increased levels of inflammatory markers. There is no approved medical intervention for treatment of pediatric NAFLD; the only proven strategy in management of pediatric NAFLD is lifestyle modification. Recently, the effects of nutritional supplements have been examined in the management of pediatric NAFLD. The purpose of this review is to summarize the studies evaluating the effects of nutritional supplements on pediatric NAFLD and explain the future direction in this field.

Keywords: Pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Diet; Nutrition; Dietary supplement; Fatty liver

Core tip: The purpose of this review is to report the existing evidences and future directions on dietary supplements that can be used for management of pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Also we tried to explain the properties of these supplements and needs for future studies.