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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 28, 2026; 32(12): 113939
Published online Mar 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i12.113939
Published online Mar 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i12.113939
Role of hepatic sonic hedgehog protein expression in the diagnosis of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis
Xu Han, Miao-Yang Chen, Qing-Fang Xiong, Yan-Dan Zhong, Yong-Feng Yang, Department of Infectious Disease and Liver Disease, The Second Hospital of Nanjing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210003, Jiangsu Province, China
Xu Han, Jia Li, Department of Gastroenterology, Tianjin Second People’s Hospital, Tianjin Institute of Hepatology, Tianjin 300192, China
Du-Xian Liu, Department of Pathology, The Second Hospital of Nanjing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210003, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Han X and Yang YF conceptualized and designed the work; Han X, Chen MY, Xiong QF, Zhong YD, and Liu DX acquired and reviewed the data and performed the analysis; Han X prepared the first draft; Xiong QF and Li J critically revised and approved the final version. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81970454; and Key Projects of Jiangsu Provincial Health Commission, No. ZD2021061.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol conforms to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Second Hospital of Nanjing (No. 2023-LS-ky-039).
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous clinical data that were obtained after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
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: The data underlying this article can be available in this article or from the first author.
Corresponding author: Yong-Feng Yang, PhD, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Infectious Disease and Liver Disease, The Second Hospital of Nanjing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 1 Zhongfu Road, Gulou District, Nanjing 210003, Jiangsu Province, China. yangyongfeng@njucm.edu.cn
Received: September 8, 2025
Revised: October 24, 2025
Accepted: January 28, 2026
Published online: March 28, 2026
Processing time: 192 Days and 18.5 Hours
Revised: October 24, 2025
Accepted: January 28, 2026
Published online: March 28, 2026
Processing time: 192 Days and 18.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This is a retrospective cohort study of the characteristics of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, in which we found the suggestive role of sonic hedgehog immunostaining in the diagnosis of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. We also found that histological ballooning hepatocytes and circulating M30 as independent predictors of advanced fibrosis.