Predictors of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Diseases (MALSD) in Vietnamese Population

Background and Aims . Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) comprises a spectrum of liver diseases from simple steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) which progresses to fibrosis and compensated cirrhosis. Worldwide, MASLD significantly contributes to the rising incidence of liver cancer. Lille is known about its predictors in Asian population and particularly among Vietnamese. Approach and Results . We determine the predictors of MASLD in Vietnamese population using a hospital-based case-control study of 100 MASLD patients and 119 healthy controls. Unconditional logistic regression model was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for MASLD in relation to potential predictors. Overall, body mass index (BMI) (OR _{> 23 vs. ≤23 kg/m2} =1.93, 95% CI: 1.00-3.72), diabetes (OR = 4.46, 95% CI: 1.16–17.12); AST (OR _{≥40 vs. <40} =4.18, 95% CI: 1.54–11.33), GGT (OR _{≥55738 vs. <55738} =5.20, 95% CI: 2.39–11.33), international normalized ratio (INR) (OR _{> 1.0 vs. ≤1.0} =2.18, 95% CI: 1.15–4.14) kPA ( _{>8.2 vs. ≤8.2} =11.14, 95% CI: 1.29–96.05) and CAP score (OR _{≤ 257.1 vs. >257.1} =30.21, 95% CI: 10.07–90.64) were the predictors for MASLD. Other important clinical factors, including cardiometabolic condition, platelet, ALT, albumin, cholesterol or triglyceride were not associated with risk of MALSD. Conclusions . Besides clinical factors such as BMI, diabetes, AST, and GGT, liver stiffness measurement (i.e., kPA and CAP score) played important roles as predictors for MALSD in Vietnamese population. Our findings, for the first time, provided evidence for risk stratification and treatment management of MALSD in Vietnamese population.