Joseph A, Mathew S, Nair HR. Blood markers vs transient elastography for liver stiffness and steatosis in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. World J Hepatol 2026; 18(1): 113475 [DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v18.i1.113475]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Harikumar R Nair, Consultant, FRCP, MRCP, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Ernakulam Medical Centre, National Highway Bypass, NH 66, Palarivattom, Kochi 682028, Kerala, India. harikumnair@yahoo.co.in
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
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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/
Jan 27, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 27, 2026
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Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Hepatology
ISSN
1948-5182
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Joseph A, Mathew S, Nair HR. Blood markers vs transient elastography for liver stiffness and steatosis in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. World J Hepatol 2026; 18(1): 113475 [DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v18.i1.113475]
World J Hepatol. Jan 27, 2026; 18(1): 113475 Published online Jan 27, 2026. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v18.i1.113475
Blood markers vs transient elastography for liver stiffness and steatosis in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
Amal Joseph, Sunil Mathew, Harikumar R Nair
Amal Joseph, Sunil Mathew, Harikumar R Nair, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Ernakulam Medical Centre, Kochi 682028, Kerala, India
Author contributions: Joseph A designed and conducted the study and wrote the article; Mathew S supervised the study and edited the manuscript; Nair HR proposed the research question, designed the study, edited the manuscript and contributed to the analysis.
Institutional review board statement: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Ernakulam Medical Centre.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent for the publication of identifiable information and imaging in this paper has been obtained from the patient involved. The individual was provided with detailed information about the nature and purpose of the publication, and their consent was documented voluntarily.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
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 that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Dr. Harikumar R Nair, upon request.
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: Harikumar R Nair, Consultant, FRCP, MRCP, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Ernakulam Medical Centre, National Highway Bypass, NH 66, Palarivattom, Kochi 682028, Kerala, India. harikumnair@yahoo.co.in
Received: August 27, 2025 Revised: September 16, 2025 Accepted: December 4, 2025 Published online: January 27, 2026 Processing time: 152 Days and 19.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study demonstrates that blood-based markers are cost-effective adjuvants to FibroScan for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) assessment. Fibrosis 4 and aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index demonstrated strong correlations with liver stiffness measurement (LSM), confirming their reliability for fibrosis evaluation. Notably, neutrophil percentage-to-albumin ratio emerged as a novel marker with a specificity (97.67%) for steatosis assessment, while platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio showed an inverse correlation with LSM. These findings support integrating simple blood markers with imaging techniques for enhanced diagnostic precision, particularly valuable in primary care settings where repeated FibroScan measurements are financially or logistically challenging, addressing critical gaps in MASLD management.
