Table 2.
Management of post-liver transplantation metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
| Topics |
Management |
| Lifestyle modifications | Dietary modifications; regular physical activity |
| Aggressive control of CMRFs | |
| Weight control | Highly recommended due to the undisputable overall benefits; orlistat (adequate safety profile but limited benefits); bariatric surgery/gastric sleeve (promising approach but ideal timing and patient selection remain uncertain) |
| Glycemic control | General management similar to general population; early postoperative period preference for insulin therapy; transition to oral antidiabetics when steroid dosage is reduced or stopped, and insulin needs decrease; choice of oral therapy follows current guidelines |
| Arterial hypertension | General management follows guidelines for general population; preferred first-line therapy is calcium channel blockers |
| Dyslipidemia | General management follows guidelines for general population; LTx recipients considered high or very high risk for therapeutic cholesterol targets; preferred drugs are hydrophilic statins (e.g., pravastatin, rosuvastatin) |
| Immunosuppression | No specific guidance for immunosuppressant choice in post-LTx MASLD or MASH; immunosuppressive regimen must be tailored individually |
| Specific therapies for MASLD and MASH | Resmetirom, pioglitazone, and GLP-1 RAs show promise in the general population, but there is insufficient evidence to support their use in LTx recipients at this time |
CMRF: Cardiovascular metabolic risk factor; GLP-1 RAs: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists; LTx: Liver transplantation; MASH: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis; MASLD: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.