Zhou PM, Yang CT, Bao JF, Huang JS. Letter to the Editor: Precise phenotyping clarifies uric acid-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio for cardiovascular risk in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(29): 119060 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.119060]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Jin-Song Huang, Chief Doctor, Department of Hepatology, Hangzhou Xixi Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, No. 2 Hengbu Road, Hangzhou 310023, Zhejiang Province, China. huangjinsongyz@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
letter
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/
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Share the Article
Zhou PM, Yang CT, Bao JF, Huang JS. Letter to the Editor: Precise phenotyping clarifies uric acid-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio for cardiovascular risk in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(29): 119060 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.119060]
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 7, 2026; 32(29): 119060 Published online Aug 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.119060
Letter to the Editor: Precise phenotyping clarifies uric acid-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio for cardiovascular risk in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
Peng-Mei Zhou, Chao-Ting Yang, The Fourth Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, Zhejiang Province, China
Jian-Feng Bao, Jin-Song Huang, Department of Hepatology, Hangzhou Xixi Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310023, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Zhou PM and Yang CT drafted and revised the manuscript; Bao JF edited this letter; Huang JS formulated the original idea; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Corresponding author: Jin-Song Huang, Chief Doctor, Department of Hepatology, Hangzhou Xixi Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, No. 2 Hengbu Road, Hangzhou 310023, Zhejiang Province, China. huangjinsongyz@126.com
Received: January 26, 2026 Revised: February 18, 2026 Accepted: April 7, 2026 Published online: August 7, 2026 Processing time: 174 Days and 17.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The diagnosis of ultrasonography-based metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease overlooks hepatic phenotypic heterogeneity and the shared inflammatory metabolic mechanisms of the cardiohepatic axis, potentially confounding the association between uric acid-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (UHR) and cardiovascular disease risk. We argue that precise phenotyping, namely quantification of steatosis using the controlled attenuation parameter or magnetic resonance imaging proton-density fat fraction and staging fibrosis using vibration-controlled transient elastography, is essential to determine whether UHR is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease risk, thereby clarifying whether UHR is a general biomarker or an indicator of high-risk patients requiring integrated cardiometabolic–hepatic management.
