There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
<p class="first" id="d3336360e91">Fatty liver associated with metabolic dysfunction
is common, affects a quarter of
the population, and has no approved drug therapy. Although pharmacotherapies are in
development, response rates appear modest. The heterogeneous pathogenesis of metabolic
fatty liver diseases and inaccuracies in terminology and definitions necessitate a
reappraisal of nomenclature to inform clinical trial design and drug development.
A group of experts sought to integrate current understanding of patient heterogeneity
captured under the acronym nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and provide suggestions
on terminology that more accurately reflects pathogenesis and can help in patient
stratification for management. Experts reached consensus that NAFLD does not reflect
current knowledge, and metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease "MAFLD"
was suggested as a more appropriate overarching term. This opens the door for efforts
from the research community to update the nomenclature and subphenotype the disease
to accelerate the translational path to new treatments.
</p>