Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Name Change: Requiem or Reveille?
Open Access
- 24 August 2021
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Xia & He Publishing in Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology
- Vol. 000 (000), 000
- https://doi.org/10.14218/jcth.2021.00174
Abstract
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects about a quarter of the world’s population and poses a major health and economic burden globally. Recently, there have been hasty attempts to rename NAFLD to metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) despite the fact that there is no scientific rationale for this. Quest for a “positive criterion” to diagnose the disease and destigmatizing the disease have been the main reasons put forth for the name change. A close scrutiny of the pathogenesis of NAFLD would make it clear that NAFLD is a heterogeneous disorder, involving different pathogenic mechanisms of which metabolic dysfunction-driven hepatic steatosis is only one. Replacing NAFLD with MAFLD would neither enhance the legitimacy of clinical practice and clinical trials, nor improve clinical care or move NAFLD research forward. Rather than changing the nomenclature without a strong scientific backing to support such a change, efforts should be directed at understanding NAFLD pathogenesis across diverse populations and ethnicities which could potentially help develop newer therapeutic options.Keywords
This publication has 108 references indexed in Scilit:
- CGI-58 knockdown sequesters diacylglycerols in lipid droplets/ER-preventing diacylglycerol-mediated hepatic insulin resistanceProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013
- Hepatic Hdac3 promotes gluconeogenesis by repressing lipid synthesis and sequestrationNature Medicine, 2012
- Diacylglycerol Activation of Protein Kinase Cε and Hepatic Insulin ResistanceCell Metabolism, 2012
- Cellular mechanism of insulin resistance in nonalcoholic fatty liver diseaseProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011
- Systemic inflammation and circadian rhythm of cardiac autonomic modulationAutonomic Neuroscience, 2011
- Gut flora metabolism of phosphatidylcholine promotes cardiovascular diseaseNature, 2011
- Plasma metabolomic profile in nonalcoholic fatty liver diseaseMetabolism, 2011
- A feed-forward loop amplifies nutritional regulation of PNPLA3Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010
- Genetic variation in PNPLA3 confers susceptibility to nonalcoholic fatty liver diseaseNature Genetics, 2008
- Farnesoid X receptor antagonizes nuclear factor κB in hepatic inflammatory responseJournal of Hepatology, 2008