Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 May;52(5):422-432.
doi: 10.1111/hepr.13706. Epub 2021 Sep 17.

MAFLD: Renovation of clinical practice and disease awareness of fatty liver

Takumi Kawaguchi  1 , Tsubasa Tsutsumi  1 , Dan Nakano  1 , Takuji Torimura  1
Affiliations
Review

MAFLD: Renovation of clinical practice and disease awareness of fatty liver

Takumi Kawaguchi et al. Hepatol Res. 2022 May.

Abstract

Recently, international expert panels have proposed a new definition of fatty liver: metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). MAFLD is not just a simple renaming of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The unique feature of MAFLD is the inclusion of metabolic dysfunctions, which are high-risk factors for events. In addition, MAFLD is independent of alcohol intake and the co-existing causes of liver disease. This new concept of MAFLD may have a widespread impact on patients, medical doctors, medical staff, and various stakeholders regarding fatty liver. Thus, MAFLD may renovate clinical practice and disease awareness of fatty liver. In this review, we introduce the definition of and rationale for MAFLD. We further describe representative cases showing how the diagnostic processes differ between MAFLD and NAFLD. We also summarize recent studies comparing MAFLD with NAFLD and discuss the impact of MAFLD on clinical trials, Japanese populations, and disease awareness.

Keywords: atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; disease awareness; hepatic fibrosis; metabolic-associated fatty liver; steatosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Younossi ZM. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - a global public health perspective. J Hepatol. 2019;70:531-44.
    1. Younossi Z, Anstee QM, Marietti M, Hardy T, Henry L, Eslam M, et al. Global burden of NAFLD and NASH: trends, predictions, risk factors and prevention. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018;15:11-20.
    1. Sumida Y, Shima T, Mitsumoto Y, Katayama T, Umemura A, Yamaguchi K, et al. Epidemiology: pathogenesis, and diagnostic strategy of diabetic liver disease in Japan. Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21:4337.
    1. Yamamura S, Kawaguchi T, Nakano D, Tomiyasu Y, Yoshinaga S, Doi Y, et al. Profiles of advanced hepatic fibrosis evaluated by FIB-4 index and shear wave elastography in health checkup examinees. Hepatol Res. 2020;50:199-213.
    1. Powell EE, Wong VW, Rinella M. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Lancet. 2021;397:2212-24.

LinkOut - more resources