Prognostic performance of the two-step clinical care pathway in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Background & Aims: Current guidelines recommend a 2-step approach for risk stratification in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) with Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) followed by liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) or similar second-line tests. This study aimed to examine to prognostic performance of this approach.

Methods: The VCTE-Prognosis Study was a longitudinal study of patients with MASLD who had undergone VCTE examinations at 16 centres from the US, Europe and Asia with subsequent follow-up for clinical events.

Gender-Equity Model for Liver Allocation using Artificial Intelligence (GEMA-AI) for waiting list liver transplant prioritization.

Background & Aims: We aimed to develop and validate an artificial intelligence score (GEMA-AI) to predict liver transplant (LT) waiting list outcomes using the same input variables contained in existing models.

Methods: Cohort study including adult LT candidates enlisted in the United Kingdom (2010-2020) for model training and internal validation, and in Australia (1998-2020) for external validation. GEMA-AI combined international normalized ratio, bilirubin, sodium, and the Royal Free Glomerular Filtration Rate in an explainable Artificial Neural Network.

Quantification of alcohol intake in patients with steatotic liver disease and excessive alcohol intake.

Background & Aims: Quantifying alcohol intake is crucial for subclassifying participants with steatotic liver disease (SLD) and interpreting clinical trials of alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) and metabolic and alcohol-related liver disease (MetALD). However, the accuracy of self-reported alcohol intake is considered imprecise. We compared the diagnostic and prognostic utility of self-reported alcohol intake with blood-based biomarkers of alcohol intake: phosphatidylethanol (PEth) and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT).

An in vitro study of oral bioavailability of lupin stabilized nanocarriers for curcumin.

In this study, the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of curcumin encapsulated into different lupin protein isolate-based carriers was evaluated by coupling an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (INFOGEST) with an in vitro co-culture absorption model, Caco-2/HT29-MTX, consisting of both absorptive and mucus producing cells. A targeted ultrahigh-performance quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) method was applied to monitor the fate of curcumin post digestion and absorption, specifically analyzing the apical, cellular, and basolateral fractions. Lupin protein nanoparticles, obtained by desolvation, protected curcumin from degradation better than oil in water (O/W) emulsions stabilized with lupin protein isolate.

Prevalence, characteristics and outcomes of patients with metabolic and alcohol related/associated liver disease (MetALD): a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: In light of the new nomenclature of steatotic liver disease (SLD), we aimed to enhance the existing knowledge on the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of metabolic and alcohol related/associated liver disease (MetALD).

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed in Medline/PubMed, Embase, Scopus and Cochrane databases to evaluate the prevalence and outcomes of MetALD within the SLD population and to compare the characteristics between MetALD patients and those with metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and alcohol-related liver disease (ALD). Nineteen studies from nine countries that evaluated 4,543,341 adult participants with SLD were included.