Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease(NAFLD)Name Change:Requiem or Reveille?

作     者：Shivaram P.Singh Prajna Anirvan Reshu Khandelwal Sanjaya K.Satapathy Shivaram P.Singh;Prajna Anirvan;Reshu Khelwal;Sanjaya K.Satapathy

作者机构：Department of GastroenterologySriram Chandra Bhanj Medical CollegeCuttackOdishaIndia Division of HepatologySandra Atlas Bass Center for Liver Diseases and TransplantationDonald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell HealthManhassetNYUSA 

出 版 物：《Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology》 (临床与转化肝病杂志（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2021年第9卷第6期

页      面：931-938页

核心收录：

学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 10[医学] 

主　　题：Heterogeneity MAFLD Metabolic NAFLD NASH Nomenclature Steatohepatitis 

摘      要：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 criterionto 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.