Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Liver Research Unit, Institute of Gastroenterology, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021 Apr;15(4):345-352. doi: 10.1080/17474124.2021.1860019. Epub 2020 Dec 9.
: We are currently at the dawn of a revolution in the field of fatty liver diseases. Recently, a consensus recommended 'metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease' (MAFLD) as a more appropriate name to describe fatty liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction, ultimately suggesting that the old acronym nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) should be abandoned.: In this viewpoint, we discuss the reasons and relevance of this semantic modification through five different conceptual domains, i.e., 1) signals, 2) reasons, 2) promises, 4) challenges and 5) steps ahead.: The road ahead will not be traveled without major challenges. Further research to evaluate the positive and negative impacts of the nomenclature change is warranted. However, this modification should encourage increased disease awareness among policymakers and stimulate public and private investments leading to more effective therapy development.
我们正处在脂肪性肝病领域革命的黎明时期。最近，有一项共识建议用“代谢相关脂肪性肝病（MAFLD）”来更恰当地描述与代谢功能障碍相关的脂肪性肝病，这最终表明，应该摒弃旧的缩写词“非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）”。在这篇观点文章中，我们通过五个不同的概念领域来讨论这种语义修饰的原因和相关性，即 1）信号，2）原因，2）承诺，4）挑战和 5）未来的步骤。前路不会没有重大挑战。有必要进一步研究来评估命名法改变的积极和消极影响。然而，这种修饰应该会鼓励政策制定者提高对疾病的认识，并刺激公共和私人投资，从而开发出更有效的治疗方法。
