Qu B, Li Z. Exploring non-invasive diagnostics for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease. World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30(28): 3447-3451 [PMID: 39091712 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i28.3447]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Zheng Li, PhD, Lecturer, Pharmacist, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Targeting Endothelial Cells, College of Health Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, No. 101 Shanghai Road, Xuzhou 221000, Jiangsu Province, China. lizhengcpu@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 28, 2024; 30(28): 3447-3451 Published online Jul 28, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i28.3447
Exploring non-invasive diagnostics for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease
Biao Qu, Zheng Li
Biao Qu, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, Anhui Province, China
Zheng Li, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Targeting Endothelial Cells, College of Health Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221000, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Li Z designed the article; Qu B and Li Z drafted and revised the article.
Supported byThe National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82104525.
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: Zheng Li, PhD, Lecturer, Pharmacist, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Targeting Endothelial Cells, College of Health Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, No. 101 Shanghai Road, Xuzhou 221000, Jiangsu Province, China. lizhengcpu@163.com
Received: April 24, 2024 Revised: July 1, 2024 Accepted: July 8, 2024 Published online: July 28, 2024 Processing time: 90 Days and 9 Hours
Abstract
The population with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is increasingly common worldwide. Identification of people at risk of progression to advanced stages is necessary to timely offer interventions and appropriate care. Liver biopsy is currently considered the gold standard for the diagnosis and staging of MAFLD, but it has associated risks and limitations. This has spurred the exploration of non-invasive diagnostics for MAFLD, especially for steatohepatitis and fibrosis. These non-invasive approaches mostly include biomarkers and algorithms derived from anthropometric measurements, serum tests, imaging or stool metagenome profiling. However, they still need rigorous and widespread clinical validation for the diagnostic performance.
Core Tip: Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a bur-densome public health problem. The diagnostic assessment of MAFLD is an important step for timely management. Extensive effort and encouraging progress have been made to establish non-invasive tests to diagnose steatohepatitis and fibrosis.
