Sex, Nutrition, and NAFLD: Relevance of Environmental Pollution

settings Order Article Reprints Open AccessReview Sex, Nutrition, and NAFLD: Relevance of Environmental Pollution by Arianna Dolce and Sara Della Torre * [ORCID] Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Nutrients 2023, 15(10), 2335; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15102335 (registering DOI) Received: 18 April 2023 / Revised: 12 May 2023 / Accepted: 13 May 2023 / Published: 16 May 2023 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Diet and Fertility Status: Relevance in Health and Disease) Download Browse Figures Review Reports Versions Notes Abstract Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common form of chronic liver disease and represents an increasing public health issue given the limited treatment options and its association with several other metabolic and inflammatory disorders. The epidemic, still growing prevalence of NAFLD worldwide cannot be merely explained by changes in diet and lifestyle that occurred in the last few decades, nor from their association with genetic and epigenetic risk factors. It is conceivable that environmental pollutants, which act as endocrine and metabolic disruptors, may contribute to the spreading of this pathology due to their ability to enter the food chain and be ingested through contaminated food and water. Given the strict interplay between nutrients and the regulation of hepatic metabolism and reproductive functions in females, pollutant-induced metabolic dysfunctions may be of particular relevance for the female liver, dampening sex differences in NAFLD prevalence. Dietary intake of environmental pollutants can be particularly detrimental during gestation, when endocrine-disrupting chemicals may interfere with the programming of liver metabolism, accounting for the developmental origin of NAFLD in offspring. This review summarizes cause–effect evidence between environmental pollutants and increased incidence of NAFLD and emphasizes the need for further studies in this field.