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Review
. 2023 Feb;29(Suppl):S17-S31.
doi: 10.3350/cmh.2022.0367. Epub 2022 Nov 29.

MAFLD: How is it different from NAFLD?

Cameron Gofton  1   2   3   4 , Yadhavan Upendran  1 , Ming-Hua Zheng  5   6   7   8 , Jacob George  1
Affiliations
Review

MAFLD: How is it different from NAFLD?

Cameron Gofton et al. Clin Mol Hepatol. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

"Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD)" is the term suggested in 2020 to refer to fatty liver disease related to systemic metabolic dysregulation. The name change from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to MAFLD comes with a simple set of criteria to enable easy diagnosis at the bedside for the general medical community, including primary care physicians. Since the introduction of the term, there have been key areas in which the superiority of MAFLD over the traditional NAFLD terminology has been demonstrated, including for the risk of liver and extrahepatic mortality, disease associations, and for identifying high-risk individuals. Additionally, MAFLD has been adopted by a number of leading pan-national and national societies due to its concise diagnostic criterion, removal of the requirement to exclude concomitant liver diseases, and reduction in the stigma associated with this condition. The current article explores the differences between MAFLD and NAFLD diagnosis, areas of benefit, some potential limitations, and how the MAFLD terminology has opened up new fields of research.

Keywords: MAFLD; MAFLD vs. NAFLD; NAFLD.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

The authors have no conflicts to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Diagnostic criterion for MAFLD. MAFLD, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease; HDL, high-density lipoprotein.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Diagnosis of NAFLD. NAFLD, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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