Table 1.

Potential positive implications and challenges related to transition of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease to metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease

Positive implications	Challenges
Useful in overcoming the dichotomization of NASH and non-NASH in clinical practices	Obtain a global acceptance as some researchers consider the name change premature and inappropriate
Facilitate diagnosis and evaluation of disease progression in high-risk patients	Underestimation of actual prevalence of the disease using the criteria of MAFLD
Improve awareness of physicians, healthcare providers and patients	Further clarification and stratification of the definition to guide decision-making and assess prognosis of the disease
Improve physician-patient communication	Address the patients with fatty changes in liver in absence of metabolic derangements
Improve clinical diagnosis and patient care	Deal with lean or undernourished individuals with hepatic fatty changes
Reduce confusion and stigma regarding the disease	Lack of information regarding genetic risk factors, phenotyping measurements, body fat content, and alterations in gut microbiota in the new definition
Increase public attention and improve health policy actions	Determine the outcome variable of ongoing clinical trials where “improvement in NASH” is one of the endpoints

MAFLD: Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease; NASH: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.