Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in the MENA Region: Setting a Research and Action Priority Agenda

Mohamed El-Kassas^{1

2

3}, Marcela Villota-Rivas⁴, Khalid A Alswat^{2

3

5}, Khalid M AlNaamani^{2

3

6}, Yusuf Yilmaz^{2

3

7}, Asma Labidi^{2

8}, Faisal M Sanai^{2

9}, Abeer Awad¹⁰, Maisam W I Akroush^{2

11}, Saleh A Alqahtani^{3

12}, Mohamed Elbadry^{1

2}, Nermeen Abdeen¹³, Linda Henry^{3

14}, Zobair M Younossi^{3

14}, Jeffrey V Lazarus^{4

15

16}, Abdel-Naser Elzouki^{2

17}; Steatotic Liver Disease Study Foundation in Middle East and North Africa (SLMENA) Collaborators

Collaborators, Affiliations

Collaborators

Steatotic Liver Disease Study Foundation in Middle East and North Africa (SLMENA) Collaborators:
Mohamed El-Kassas, Marcela Villota-Rivas, Khalid A Alswat, Khalid M AlNaamani, Yusuf Yilmaz, Asma Labidi, Faisal M Sanai, Abeer Awad, Maisam W I Akroush, Saleh A Alqahtani, Mohamed Elbadry, Nermeen Abdeen, Linda Henry, Zobair M Younossi, Jeffrey V Lazarus, Abdel-Naser Elzouki, Faisal A Abaalkhail, Haifa Abdesselem, Maheeba A Abdulla, Meral Akdogan Kayhan, Fatma E Akin, Said A Al-Busafi, Waleed K Al-Hamoudi, Abdulrahman A Al-Hussaini, Ahmad Al-Rifai, Khaldon K Al-Sarihin, Ali A Alali, Assaad Aldafter, Saad M Aldosari, Assim A Alfadda, Abdullah S Alghamdi, Mohammed Y Alghamdi, Ala K Ali, Mohammed Aljawad, Abdulrahman A Aljumah, Nasser M ALMasri, Maen AlMattooq, Dalal Alromaihi, Ashraf F Alsahafi, Ibrahim H Altraif, Nourdin Aqodad, Derya Ari, Cigdem Arikan, Zayed A Atef, Fehmi Ates, Ugur Avci, Mohamed M Awad, Myriam Ayari, Mohamed A Babatin, İbrahim H Bahçecioğlu, Yasemin H Balaban, Mustapha Benazzouz, Olfa Berriche, Sultan A Bin Tarif, Mona Boudabbous, Arif Mansur Cosar, Nabil Debzi, Coskun O Demirtas, Dinc Dincer, Suhail A Doi, Iman El Sherif, Hanaa M El-Karaksy, Mortada H F El-Shabrawi, Nour Elleuch, Medhat H Elsahhar, Nehal Hamdy Elsaid Awad, Aisha Elsharkawy, Reda Elwakil, Rym Ennaifer, Askin Erdogan, Gamal Esmat, Mamdouh A Gabr, Genco Gencdal, Lina J Haddad, Bilal H Hotayt, Mona H Ismail, Zahi Ismaili, Hani A Jawa, Saibe Merve Kazdal, Ayse Kefeli, Murat Kekilli, Caglayan Keklikkiran, Ashraf T Mahmoud, Mohammad Mawardi, Mohammed A Medhat, Engy A Mogahed, Mohsen S Mohamad, Heba Omar, Ashraf O Osman, Radia Osmane, Ozen Oz Gul, Tugce Ozlu Karahan, Yaser M Rayyan, Khadidja Saidani, İlker Şen, Abdelhamid A Serwah, Ala I Sharara, Mrabet Soumaya, Raja Tlili, Damla Tüfekçi, Ali Tumi, İnci Türkoğlu, Melin M Uygur, Imam Waked, Haythem Yacoub, Cesar G Yaghi, Suna Yapali, Yosra Zaimi, Doaa Z Zaky, Shahrazed Zemmouchi

Affiliations

¹ Endemic Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt.
² Steatotic Liver Disease Study Foundation in Middle East and North Africa (SLMENA), Cairo, Egypt.
³ The Global NASH/MASH Council, Washington, DC, USA.
⁴ Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain.
⁵ Liver Disease Research Center, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, The Medical City for Military and Security Services, Muscat, Oman.
⁷ Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey.
⁸ Department of Gastroenterology "A", Rabta Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia.
⁹ Department of Medicine, Gastroenterology Section, King Abdulaziz Medical City, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
¹¹ Digestive and Liver Disease Clinic, Private Sector, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University, Amman, Jordan.
¹² Liver, Digestive, and Lifestyle Health Research Section, and Organ Transplant Center of Excellence, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹³ Tropical Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
¹⁴ Beatty Liver and Obesity Research Program, Inova Health System, Falls Church, Virginia, USA.
¹⁵ City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), New York, New York, USA.
¹⁶ Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain.
¹⁷ Department of Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation and College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.

PMID: 40411196
DOI: 10.1111/liv.70108

Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in the MENA Region: Setting a Research and Action Priority Agenda

Mohamed El-Kassas et al. Liver Int. 2025 Jun.

. 2025 Jun;45(6):e70108.

doi: 10.1111/liv.70108.

Authors

Collaborators

Steatotic Liver Disease Study Foundation in Middle East and North Africa (SLMENA) Collaborators:
Mohamed El-Kassas, Marcela Villota-Rivas, Khalid A Alswat, Khalid M AlNaamani, Yusuf Yilmaz, Asma Labidi, Faisal M Sanai, Abeer Awad, Maisam W I Akroush, Saleh A Alqahtani, Mohamed Elbadry, Nermeen Abdeen, Linda Henry, Zobair M Younossi, Jeffrey V Lazarus, Abdel-Naser Elzouki, Faisal A Abaalkhail, Haifa Abdesselem, Maheeba A Abdulla, Meral Akdogan Kayhan, Fatma E Akin, Said A Al-Busafi, Waleed K Al-Hamoudi, Abdulrahman A Al-Hussaini, Ahmad Al-Rifai, Khaldon K Al-Sarihin, Ali A Alali, Assaad Aldafter, Saad M Aldosari, Assim A Alfadda, Abdullah S Alghamdi, Mohammed Y Alghamdi, Ala K Ali, Mohammed Aljawad, Abdulrahman A Aljumah, Nasser M ALMasri, Maen AlMattooq, Dalal Alromaihi, Ashraf F Alsahafi, Ibrahim H Altraif, Nourdin Aqodad, Derya Ari, Cigdem Arikan, Zayed A Atef, Fehmi Ates, Ugur Avci, Mohamed M Awad, Myriam Ayari, Mohamed A Babatin, İbrahim H Bahçecioğlu, Yasemin H Balaban, Mustapha Benazzouz, Olfa Berriche, Sultan A Bin Tarif, Mona Boudabbous, Arif Mansur Cosar, Nabil Debzi, Coskun O Demirtas, Dinc Dincer, Suhail A Doi, Iman El Sherif, Hanaa M El-Karaksy, Mortada H F El-Shabrawi, Nour Elleuch, Medhat H Elsahhar, Nehal Hamdy Elsaid Awad, Aisha Elsharkawy, Reda Elwakil, Rym Ennaifer, Askin Erdogan, Gamal Esmat, Mamdouh A Gabr, Genco Gencdal, Lina J Haddad, Bilal H Hotayt, Mona H Ismail, Zahi Ismaili, Hani A Jawa, Saibe Merve Kazdal, Ayse Kefeli, Murat Kekilli, Caglayan Keklikkiran, Ashraf T Mahmoud, Mohammad Mawardi, Mohammed A Medhat, Engy A Mogahed, Mohsen S Mohamad, Heba Omar, Ashraf O Osman, Radia Osmane, Ozen Oz Gul, Tugce Ozlu Karahan, Yaser M Rayyan, Khadidja Saidani, İlker Şen, Abdelhamid A Serwah, Ala I Sharara, Mrabet Soumaya, Raja Tlili, Damla Tüfekçi, Ali Tumi, İnci Türkoğlu, Melin M Uygur, Imam Waked, Haythem Yacoub, Cesar G Yaghi, Suna Yapali, Yosra Zaimi, Doaa Z Zaky, Shahrazed Zemmouchi

Affiliations

¹ Endemic Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt.
² Steatotic Liver Disease Study Foundation in Middle East and North Africa (SLMENA), Cairo, Egypt.
³ The Global NASH/MASH Council, Washington, DC, USA.
⁴ Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain.
⁵ Liver Disease Research Center, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, The Medical City for Military and Security Services, Muscat, Oman.
⁷ Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey.
⁸ Department of Gastroenterology "A", Rabta Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia.
⁹ Department of Medicine, Gastroenterology Section, King Abdulaziz Medical City, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
¹¹ Digestive and Liver Disease Clinic, Private Sector, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University, Amman, Jordan.
¹² Liver, Digestive, and Lifestyle Health Research Section, and Organ Transplant Center of Excellence, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹³ Tropical Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
¹⁴ Beatty Liver and Obesity Research Program, Inova Health System, Falls Church, Virginia, USA.
¹⁵ City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), New York, New York, USA.
¹⁶ Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain.
¹⁷ Department of Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation and College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.

PMID: 40411196
DOI: 10.1111/liv.70108

Abstract

Background & aims: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a growing health challenge, particularly in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. This study aimed to establish a consensus-driven research and action agenda to address MASLD within the MENA region.

Methods: Following a global MASLD research and action agenda setting study, over two Delphi rounds (Rs), MENA region experts (R1 n = 112, R2 n = 104) indicated their level of agreement with and provided feedback on MASLD research and action priorities via Qualtrics XM. In R2, panellists also ranked the priorities, which were categorised across six domains: (1) the human and economic burden, (2) defining and implementing care models, (3) disease management, (4) education and awareness, (5) patient and community perspectives, and (6) leadership and policies for the MASLD public health agenda.

Results: The consensus-built MASLD research and action priority agenda for the MENA region comprises 52 priorities. Combined agreement (i.e., 'agree' + 'somewhat agree') increased from 97.6% and 98.1% in R1 to 98.2% and 98.5% in R2 with the research (n = 30) and action (n = 22) priorities, respectively. The highest ranked research priorities included developing regional MASLD databases and validating non-invasive diagnostic tools. The highest ranked action priorities included taking steps to enhance the adoption of lifestyle interventions among people living with MASLD and improving disease knowledge among healthcare providers.

Conclusions: This region-specific agenda can help to guide research and optimise clinical practice, thereby improving the understanding, prevention, and management of MASLD, enhancing health outcomes and reducing its burden within the MENA region.

Keywords: Delphi method; Middle East and North Africa; global health; metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatohepatitis; metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease; non‐communicable disease.

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References

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Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in the MENA Region: Setting a Research and Action Priority Agenda

Collaborators

Affiliations

Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in the MENA Region: Setting a Research and Action Priority Agenda

Authors

Collaborators

Affiliations

Abstract

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Research Materials