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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 14, 2026; 32(6): 113804
Published online Feb 14, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i6.113804
Published online Feb 14, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i6.113804
High-protein diets and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: A double-edged sword in liver health
Hong-Yuan Yin, Guang Ji, Yan-Qi Dang, Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, China-Canada Center of Research for Digestive Diseases, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China
Qian-Hui You, Yueyang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200437, China
Wei-Jie Zhang, Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China
Co-first authors: Hong-Yuan Yin and Qian-Hui You.
Co-corresponding authors: Guang Ji and Yan-Qi Dang.
Author contributions: Yin HY and You QH contributed equally to this manuscript as co-first authors; You QH validated and visualized the manuscript; Yin HY wrote and visualized the original draft; Ji G and Dang YQ contributed equally to this manuscript as co-corresponding authors; Dang YQ designed and revised the original draft; Ji G designed and edited the manuscript; Zhang WJ validated and revised the manuscript; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82320108022.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All 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: Yan-Qi Dang, PhD, Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, China-Canada Center of Research for Digestive Diseases, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fenglin Road Sub-District, Shanghai 200032, China.
Received: September 4, 2025
Revised: October 27, 2025
Accepted: December 9, 2025
Published online: February 14, 2026
Processing time: 151 Days and 22.8 Hours
Revised: October 27, 2025
Accepted: December 9, 2025
Published online: February 14, 2026
Processing time: 151 Days and 22.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: High-protein diets have dual effects on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, depending on protein source and amount. Plant-based proteins may benefit liver metabolism, inflammation, and gut microbiota, whereas excessive animal proteins could worsen outcomes. Patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease should favor plant proteins and limit animal proteins; personalized dietary strategies require further mechanistic research.