This review provided a comprehensive analysis of the extrahepatic manifestations of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), focusing on chronic diseases related to cardiovascular, muscular, and renal systems. More than 90% of obese patients with type 2 diabetes have MASH, and data suggest that in those who are aged 45 to 54, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality, sarcopenia, and chronic kidney disease. Lipotoxic inflammatory markers from a MASH-affected liver play a role in mitigating the systemic pathological effects observed. MASH has myriad impacts on heart, muscle, and kidney diseases, and early detection and risk stratification are key.

The Delphi process, which is led by an international consortium of pan-liver associations, evaluated the terminological shortcomings associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), so redefining these liver diseases to MASH and MASLD is believed to help remove stigma and enhance diagnostic guidelines. Branching out from this is a more precise view of the correlation between the latter diseases and comorbidities.

Reference: Sandireddy R, Sakthivel S, Gupta P, et al. Systemic impacts of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) on heart, muscle, and kidney related diseases. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2024 Jul 16;12:1433857. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1433857. PMID: 39086662; PMCID: PMC11289778.