MAFLD vs NAFLD: Where are we?

In the last year, several Authors have proposed a change of the terminology from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) [1,2]. Briefly, as shown in Fig. 1, the diagnosis of NAFLD is based on the fol- lowing criteria: (a) hepatic steatosis by serum biomarker scores, imaging methods or histology, (b) no excessive alcohol consump- tion, and (c) no other causes of hepatic steatosis [3]. Conversely, the diagnosis of MAFLD can be made by the presence of hepatic steatosis (detected by serum biomarker scores, imaging techniques or histology) and at least one of the following criteria: (a) over- weight/obesity, (b) type 2 diabetes, and (c) metabolic dysregulation (that means at least 2 factors amongst increased waist circumfer- ence, hypertriglyceridemia, low serum HDL-cholesterol levels, hy- pertension, impaired fasting plasma glucose, insulin resistance and chronic subclinical inflammation) (Fig. 1) [1,2].