PPARα-ERRα crosstalk mitigates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease progression.

Background And Aims: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the most prevalent liver disease worldwide, continues to rise. More effective therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. We investigated how targeting two key nuclear receptors involved in hepatic energy metabolism, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) and estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα), ameliorates MASLD.

The Clinical Relevance of Prior Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Alcohol-Related Liver Disease in a Nationwide Belgian Liver Transplant Population.

Background And Aims: Patients with a history of metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) are susceptible to developing alcohol use disorder. Outcome after transplantation for alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) has not been studied in-depth.

Methods: We included adult patients who underwent a liver transplantation (LT) in Belgium between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2022 for ALD.

Global burden of disease attributable to metabolic risk factors in adolescents and young adults aged 15-39, 1990-2021.

Background: Metabolic risk factors are a significant cause of global burden among adolescents and young adults, but there is a lack of attention to the burden attributable to these metabolic risk factors globally.

Aims: This study aims to provide comprehensive estimates of five important metabolic risk factors and the attributable disease burden in people aged 15-39 years from 1990 to 2021, based on the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) database.

Methods: Global total deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were used to describe the burden attributable to five common metabolic risk factors, including high fasting plasma glucose (FPG), high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high systolic blood pressure (SBP), high body mass index (BMI), and kidney dysfunction, in adolescents and young adults.

Prior metabolic and bariatric surgery is an independent determinant of severity of decompensation in alcohol-associated liver disease.

Background: Patients with a history of metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) are susceptible to developing alcohol use disorder, potentially resulting in end-stage liver disease, with a paucity of data on the evolution of cirrhosis.

Aims: Our aim was to describe the demographics and mortality in hospitalizations over time in individuals diagnosed with cirrhosis due to alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) in relation to prior MBS.

Methods: We included patients hospitalized at the Ghent University Hospital between 1/1/2010 and 01/09/2023 with cirrhosis due to ALD.

The association of ultra-processed food intake with adolescent metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in the NHANES.

Introduction: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has become a major public health concern. A thorough analysis of the link between ultra-processed food (UPF) intake and MASLD in the adolescent population is lacking.

Methods: Adolescent participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) pre-pandemic cohort were included.

External validation of the IAIHG autoimmune hepatitis response criteria in a multicentric real-world cohort.

Background & Aims: The goal of treatment in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is induction of remission to prevent the development of liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and its related complications. Various definitions of treatment response and remission have been used. The International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group (IAIHG) recently defined consensus criteria for treatment response.

Development and validation of pFIB scores for exclusion of significant liver fibrosis in pediatric MASLD.

Background And Aims: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most prevalent pediatric liver disease, yet accurate risk scores for referral of children/adolescents with suspected clinically significant liver fibrosis are currently lacking.

Approach And Results: Clinical and biochemical variables were collected in a prospective cohort of 327 children and adolescents with severe obesity, in whom liver fibrosis was evaluated by transient elastography. Logistic regression was performed to establish continuous (pFIB-c) and simplified (pFIB-6) diagnostic scores that accurately exclude significant (≥F2) fibrosis.

Adipose Tissue Insulin Resistance Correlates with Disease Severity in Pediatric Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: To assess the role of adipose tissue insulin resistance (Adipo-IR) in the pathogenesis of pediatric metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and to determine Adipo-IR evolution during a lifestyle intervention program.

Study Design: In this prospective cohort study, children and adolescents with severe obesity were recruited between July 2020 and December 2022 at an inpatient pediatric rehabilitation center. Treatment consisted of dietary intervention and physical activity.

A global survey on the use of the international classification of diseases codes for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.

Background: With the implementation of the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) and the publication of the metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) nomenclature in 2020, it is important to establish consensus for the coding of MAFLD in ICD-11. This will inform subsequent revisions of ICD-11.

Methods: Using the Qualtrics XM and WJX platforms, questionnaires were sent online to MAFLD-ICD-11 coding collaborators, authors of papers, and relevant association members.

Bariatric surgery post-liver transplantation: A Belgian nationwide study.

Weight gain poses a rising concern post-liver transplantation (LT), and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease might impair graft health. The timing is crucial when considering bariatric surgery (BS) in a population with liver disease or transplantation. BS can be considered for post-LT weight gain, although the evidence is limited and the long-term outcome still uncertain.

Noninvasive scores are poorly predictive of histological fibrosis in paediatric fatty liver disease.

Objectives: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease in children. Roughly a quarter of paediatric patients with NAFLD develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and fibrosis. Here, we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of previously published noninvasive fibrosis scores to predict liver fibrosis in a large European cohort of paediatric patients with NAFLD.

Patients hospitalized with alcohol-related liver disease and prior bariatric surgery are more prone to develop acute-on-chronic liver failure.

Background & Aims: Patients with a history of bariatric surgery (BS) are susceptible to developing alcohol use disorder. We and others have previously shown that these patients can develop severe alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD). Our aim was to describe the demographics, co-morbidities and mortality of a hospitalized population diagnosed with alcohol-related liver disease, in relation to BS.

Liver health and the interplay between obesity, alcohol and bariatric surgery.

The prevalence of obesity and metabolic consequences, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a global health problem. Obesity has an important impact on chronic liver disease even beyond NAFLD, as it accelerates the progression of alcohol liver disease. Conversely, even moderate alcohol use can affect NAFLD disease severity.

Transient Kupffer cell depletion and subsequent replacement by infiltrating monocyte-derived cells does not alter the induction or progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Due to a combination of rapid disease progression and the lack of curative treatment options, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide. Infiltrated, monocyte-derived, tumor-associated macrophages are known to play a role in HCC pathogenesis, but the involvement of Kupffer cells (KCs) remains elusive. Here, we used the Clec4F-diphteria toxin receptor transgenic mouse model to specifically investigate the effect of KC depletion on HCC initiation, progression and neoplastic growth following liver resection.

'A radical operation' - a thematic analysis of newspaper framing of bariatric surgery in adolescents.

Background: Obesity in adolescents is a growing public health issue. Bariatric surgery is an effective, yet controversial treatment option for adolescents. The moral acceptability of this procedure by health-care professionals as well as the general public can be influenced by its portrayal in the news media.

Meta-analysis: The impact of light-to-moderate alcohol consumption on progressive non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background And Aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is defined as fatty liver disease in the absence of heavy alcohol consumption. However, the impact of light-to-moderate alcohol consumption on progressive NAFLD and on mortality is presently unclear.

Methods: Medline, Embase, OATD and OpenGrey were systematically searched up to November 2022 for relevant cross-sectional, case-control and cohort studies.