Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the main cause of chronic liver disease in the Western world and the main cause of liver cirrhosis in the United States. While one-fourth of the world population has NAFLD, only 5% of those patients will progress to end-stage liver disease. The clinical management of patients with NAFLD is hampered by two factors: (1) it is difficult to select which patients are at risk for end-stage liver disease and hence require specific intervention; (2) there is no approved pharmacological treatment for NAFLD. We are living an exciting era with intense research in NAFLD, and major breakthroughs in the management of NAFLD are expected in the short run.

We invite original research articles, reviews, and clinical studies that reflect this vibrant ongoing research in NAFLD, for this special issue for the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. This is a peer-reviewed, open access journal, available on PubMed Central and its most recent Impact Factor is 2.147 according to Thomson Reuters.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Noninvasive tools for prediction of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis
• New histological techniques for assessing liver injury and fibrosis
• Road map for selection of patients for specific therapy
• New data on lifestyle modifications: diet and physical exercise
• Preclinical and clinical data on pharmacological therapy for NAFLD
• Issues on liver transplantation in NAFLD-associated cirrhosis
• Management of extrahepatic manifestations of metabolic-NAFLD
• Unusual presentation of NAFLD