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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 21, 2026; 32(11): 114243
Published online Mar 21, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i11.114243
Published online Mar 21, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i11.114243
Egypt’s metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease: Genetic and dietary nexus, shaping artificial intelligence driven healthier future
Mona Hegazy, Omar Ashoush, Ahmed Abdelghani, Department of Internal Medicine, Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Kasr Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12572, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Mona Fathy, Samar Saad, Shadia Hussein, Department of Clinical Pathology, Kasr Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12572, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Samah Abdelshafy, Department of Internal Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12572, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Dalia Abdelfatah, Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo 12572, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Sawsan Abd El-Moniem, Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt
Wesam Ibrahim, Osama Ashraf, Shereen Saleh, Ahmed Ahmed, Department of Internal Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 12572, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Tarek Ahmed, Ragab Adly, Department of Internal Medicine, Fayoum University, Fayoum 63514, Egypt
Ali Abdel-Wahab, Department of Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Diabetes, Kasr Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12572, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Ahmed Othman, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Cairo 12572, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Author contributions: Hegazy M conceived and designed the research plan ideas; Hegazy M and Abdelghani A concept and design, performing the sonographic assessment of the patient and writing the manuscript; Fathy M, Ashoush O, Abdelshafy S, Abd El-Moniem S, Ibrahim W, Ashraf O, Saleh S, Ahmed T, Adly R, Abdel-Wahab A, Ahmed A, and Abdelghani A were responsible for patients data collection; Saad S, Abd El-Moniem S, Hussein S, and Abdelshafy S performed the laboratory analysis and interpretation of the study; Abdelfatah D and Othman A analyzed the statistical data of the study; all authors revised and approved the final manuscript draft.
Supported by Cairo University.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Cairo University’s Ethics Committee, No. N-41-2019.
Informed consent statement: All participants provided informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement – checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement – checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at monahegazy@cu.edu.eg. Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.
Corresponding author: Mona Hegazy, MD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Kasr Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Kasr Alainy Street, Cairo 12572, Al Qahirah, Egypt. monahegazy@cu.edu.eg
Received: September 16, 2025
Revised: November 21, 2025
Accepted: January 8, 2026
Published online: March 21, 2026
Processing time: 183 Days and 0.4 Hours
Revised: November 21, 2025
Accepted: January 8, 2026
Published online: March 21, 2026
Processing time: 183 Days and 0.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Egypt faces the world’s highest reported metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease prevalence (67.7%), driven by synergistic metabolic, dietary, and genetic factors. Obesity (27.5 times the risk), insulin resistance, high intake of refined carbohydrates, and PNPLA3 variants (present in 48% of cases) create a perfect meta