Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 21, 2024; 30(15): 2081-2086
Published online Apr 21, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i15.2081
Interplay between metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease and renal function: An intriguing pediatric perspective
Michele Nardolillo, Fabiola Rescigno, Mario Bartiromo, Dario Piatto, Stefano Guarino, Pierluigi Marzuillo, Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice, Anna Di Sessa
Michele Nardolillo, Fabiola Rescigno, Mario Bartiromo, Dario Piatto, Stefano Guarino, Pierluigi Marzuillo, Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice, Anna Di Sessa, Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples 80138, Italy
Author contributions: Nardolillo M and Di Sessa A wrote the manuscript; Marzuillo P, Miraglia del Giudice E, and Di Sessa A conceived the manuscript; Guarino S, Miraglia del Giudice E, and Di Sessa A supervised the manuscript drafting; Nardolillo M, Rescigno F, Bartiromo M, and Piatto D reviewed the literature data; Rescigno F prepared the figure. Each author contributed important intellectual content during manuscript drafting or revision.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Anna Di Sessa, MD, PhD, Postdoc, Research Fellow, Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via de Crecchio 2, Naples 80138, Italy. anna.disessa@libero.it
Received: December 27, 2023
Peer-review started: December 27, 2023
First decision: January 25, 2024
Revised: February 18, 2024
Accepted: March 26, 2024
Article in press: March 26, 2024
Published online: April 21, 2024
Processing time: 113 Days and 8.9 Hours
Abstract

Over recent years, the nomenclature of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has undergone significant changes. Indeed, in 2020, an expert consensus panel proposed the term “Metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease” (MAFLD) to underscore the close association of fatty liver with metabolic abnormalities, thereby highlighting the cardiometabolic risks (such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease) faced by these patients since childhood. More recently, this term has been further replaced with metabolic associated steatotic liver disease. It is worth noting that emerging evidence not only supports a close and independent association of MAFLD with chronic kidney disease in adults but also indicates its interplay with metabolic impairments. However, comparable pediatric data remain limited. Given the progressive and chronic nature of both diseases and their prognostic cardiometabolic implications, this editorial aims to provide a pediatric perspective on the intriguing relationship between MAFLD and renal function in childhood.

Keywords: Metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease; Renal; Function; Children; Obesity

Core Tip: Metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has been closely linked to a wide spectrum of cardiometabolic consequences. Among these, accumulating data demonstrated an association between MAFLD and renal function in children with obesity. Worthy of note, a shared pathophysiology has been reported with a pivotal role of insulin-resistance in this dangerous interplay among obesity, renal hemodynamics, and metabolic derangements. Considering the relevant clinical and prognostic implications of this association, an increased awareness of this growing health concern for clinicians is needed.