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Letter to the Editor: Improving the reliability of functional capacity testing in liver cirrhosis: A novel assessment direction
Marwan SM Al-Nimer, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Diyala, Bagubah 32001, Diyala, Iraq
Marwan SM Al-Nimer, Pharmacy, Ishtar Medical Technical Institute, Baghdad 10001, Iraq
Author contributions: Al-Nimer MS contributed to conceptualization, writing, reviewing and editing; drafting the manuscript; and read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Corresponding author: Marwan SM Al-Nimer, Emeritus Professor, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Diyala, University Street, Bagubah 32001, Diyala, Iraq. alnimermarwan@ymail.com
Received: November 14, 2025
Revised: January 8, 2026
Accepted: February 2, 2026
Published online: July 27, 2026
Processing time: 252 Days and 15.7 Hours
Revised: January 8, 2026
Accepted: February 2, 2026
Published online: July 27, 2026
Processing time: 252 Days and 15.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The six-minute walking test (6MWT) is useful in the assessment of functional capacity in a wide variety of diseases, including liver cirrhosis (LC). The development of sarcopenia is one cause of the deterioration of functional capacity in LC, and it is linked to a decline in the regulators of muscle growth. Therefore, the determination of the exerkine (myokine) levels, e.g., irisin, myostatin, and follistatin, as a supplement to the 6MWT, is of value in supporting the assessment of the functional capacity in LC.