Key result
Obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease share a multifactorial pathogenesis, with current management primarily relying on lifestyle modifications and weight loss.
Why the study?
Current therapeutic strategies for MAFLD are limited, and understanding its link with obesity is critical to identifying high-risk patients and developing more effective therapies.
MAFLD is a multifactorial disease closely linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome, requiring early noninvasive diagnosis and lifestyle or pharmacological interventions to prevent hepatic and systemic complications.
Lifestyle modifications remain first-line; leaves open targeted therapies addressing shared multifactorial pathways.
Obesity is a complex disease resulting from excessive adipose tissue in the body, leading to various metabolic, mechanical, and psychological complications. The prevalence of obesity has increased exponentially in the past few decades to reach an epidemic proportion. Obesity can predispose to or aggravate the fatty liver. Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) represents fatty liver in individuals who are either overweight/obese, or have type 2 diabetes, or have normal weight with at least two metabolic risk factors. MAFLD pathogenesis is multifactorial and involves an interplay of genetics, lifestyle-related factors, gut dysbiosis, lipotoxicity, and oxidative stress. Besides hepatic complications, MAFLD also has systemic implications in the form of increased risk for various metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, malignancies, and infectious diseases. If left untreated, MAFLD can progress to liver cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease. Many noninvasive strategies like serum-based markers and imaging help diagnose MAFLD at an early stage. Timely detection and appropriate intervention are crucial for preventing its progression to advanced liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Though lifestyle modification remains the main pillar of management, with advances in the treatment of obesity, newer agents are being tried for patients with MAFLD. The current therapeutic strategies are limited, and future research is needed to identify the subset of patients with MAFLD who are at a higher risk of hepatic and systemic complications and to develop more effective and personalized therapies.
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Vulchi et al. (2023) conducted a review in Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD). Obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease share a multifactorial pathogenesis, with current management primarily relying on lifestyle modifications and weight loss.
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