Volume 86 - 2023 - Fasc.1 - Letters
Metabolic steatosis: recent scientific data also support a change in nomenclature
Two years ago, many experts spoke out in favour of
changing the nomenclature of the most common liver
disease in the world, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
(NAFLD) (1). This was the subject of an editorial
in the Acta Gastroenterologica Belgica Journal (1).
Even though many researchers still mention that its
pathophysiology remains poorly understood or that the
exact mechanisms remain to be elucidated, it would be
dishonest not to recognise a common factor, namely
the metabolic context (metabolic syndrome, insulin
resistance and possibly type 2 diabetes, overweight or
obesity) in the pathogenesis of this liver disease (1). The
term “MAFLD” for “metabolic dysfunction-associated
fatty liver disease” therefore makes sense. It is indeed
more logical to call something by what it is than by what
it is not (1). The perceived stigma of patients using the
term “alcoholic” in naming their disease also supports
an adaptation of the nomenclature (2).
