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World J Hepatol. Jan 27, 2022; 14(1): 158-167
Published online Jan 27, 2022. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v14.i1.158
Redefining non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to metabolic associated fatty liver disease: Is this plausible?
Jalpa Devi, Aimun Raees, Amna Subhan Butt
Jalpa Devi, Department of Gastroenterology, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro 74800, Pakistan
Aimun Raees, Amna Subhan Butt, Department of Gastroenterology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi 74800, Pakistan
Author contributions: Butt AS was the invited author; Butt AS conceived the idea and developed the outline of the manuscript; Devi J, Raees A, and Butt AS contributed to literature search, review, and manuscript writing; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Amna Subhan Butt, FCPS, MBBS, MSc, Associate Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Stadium Road, Karachi 74800, Pakistan. amna.subhan@aku.edu
Received: March 27, 2021
Peer-review started: March 27, 2021
First decision: June 7, 2021
Revised: June 17, 2021
Accepted: December 22, 2021
Article in press: December 22, 2021
Published online: January 27, 2022
Processing time: 299 Days and 10.8 Hours
Abstract

Recently, a single letter change has taken the world by storm. A group of experts have developed a consensus to upgrade the term non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), suggesting that MAFLD would more accurately reflect not only the disease pathogenesis but would also help in patient stratification for management with NAFLD. However, the difference of opinion exists, which has made the NAFLD vs MAFLD debate the current talk of the town. This review will focus on the plausibility and implications of redefining NAFLD as MAFLD.

Keywords: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Metabolic associated fatty liver disease; Fatty liver disease; Non-alcoholic fatty liver; Review

Core Tip: A group of experts have recently developed a consensus towards redefining non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), suggestive of a more accurate differential diagnosis and signifying the exact disease pathogenesis to achieve higher patient stratification and delivery of better care to patients with NAFLD while avoiding stigmatization due to the presence of the word ‘alcohol’, particularly in regions where alcohol consumption is a taboo for cultural and religious reasons. However, differences in experts' opinions considering the implications of redefining NAFLD as MAFLD still hold strong. Therefore, this review article focuses on the plausibleness and implications of redefining NAFLD as MAFLD.