Commented Articles

General strategies have been proposed to manage NAFLD. They include: (a) lifestyle change in order to promote weight loss by diet and physical activity, (b) control of the main cardiometabolic risk factors, (c) correction of all modifiable risk factors leading the development and progression of advanced forms of NAFLD, (d) and prevention...

A few studies investigated the Mediterranean diet in developing countries, especially middle east countries where dietary patterns are different from other parts of the world. This case-control study aimed to examine the association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and NAFLD in Iranian adults...

In this review, L. J. M. Heyens et al. (Hasselt University, Belgium, Maastricht University, Netherlands, and, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Belgium) give an overview of the pathogenic mechanisms of the evolution from isolated steatosis to fibrosis. The authors also discuss of the current and future diagnostic biomarkers and anti-fibrotic drugs...

“Should we be concerned about the presence of increased portal pressure in non-cirrhotic NAFLD? What would be a safe, easy, and accurate way to detect subclinical portal hypertension and utilise it in risk assessment? How could an early rise in portal pressure contribute to NAFLD pathophysiology and could these mechanisms identify novel therapeutic targets?” This article by G. Baffy...

While the successful treatment of hepatitis B and C reduced the burden of liver disease related to viral hepatitis, NAFLD) or NASH) are nowadays the leading causes of hepatic fibrosis worldwide. In this review, F. Tacke et al. (Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany) discuss recent advances in antifibrotic prevention and therapy...

In this review, J. L. Fraile et al. (University of Aberdeen, UK) have performed an exhaustive review of the current therapeutic landscape (drug classes, biologics vs small molecules, and target molecules) for NASH. Regarding lanifibranor, the authors stated, “it’s an oral small molecule that activates...

In their systematic review and meta-analysis, V. Houttu et al. (Amsterdam University Medical Center, The Netherlands) summarise and assess the evidence for dietary interventions NAFLD patients. In these patients, Mediterranean and hypocaloric dietary interventions favouring unsaturated fatty acids ...

S. Hassani Zadeh et al. (Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran) carried out this meta-analysis to examine the association between dietary patterns and NAFLD. The authors selected three dietary patterns of Western, Prudent, and Mediterranean. The Prudent diet curtails the intake of eggs, whole milk, and whole milk-based dairy products, liver...

In an ongoing, community-based, cohort-study in Sri Lanka, participants were randomly selected in 2007, and were reassessed in 2014 to evaluate new-onset metabolic traits and cardiovascular-events. M. A. Niriella et al. (University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka) compared baseline characteristics, metabolic traits and cardiovascular-events after...

In order to compare the outcomes of the two diagnostic criteria in a population-based study, Q. Huang et al. (Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China) aimed to investigate the association of MAFLD or NAFLD with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. They recruited 12,480 participants from the Third National Health and Nutrition...

Elena Kotsiliti, associate editor at Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, presents the results of the phase IIb NATIVE double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. This trial investigated lanifibranor (a pan-proliferator–activated receptor agonist) in patients with severe nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) without cirrhosis...

While some aetiologies can be characterised, a multifactorial disease such as MAFLD requires thorough assessment of comorbidities and severity of concomitant fibrosis to assess a patient’s overall risk....