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Abstract Details
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Name Change: Requiem or Reveille?
J Clin Transl Hepatol. 2021 Dec 28;9(6):931-938. doi: 10.14218/JCTH.2021.00174.Epub 2021 Aug 24.
Shivaram P Singh1, Prajna Anirvan1, Reshu Khandelwal1, Sanjaya K Satapathy2
Author information
Department of Gastroenterology, Sriram Chandra Bhanj Medical College, Cuttack, Odisha, India.
Division of Hepatology, Sandra Atlas Bass Center for Liver Diseases and Transplantation, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Health, Manhasset, NY, USA.
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.