ArticleLiver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver2025
Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Is Associated With Accelerated Brain Ageing: A Population-Based Study.
Article in Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Distinct Laboratory and Clinical Features of Metabolic and Alcohol-Related Liver Disease (MetALD): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current obesity reports · 2026Pooled it
- Ultra-Processed Foods, MASLD, and Cognitive Aging: A Processing-Centered Gut-Liver-Brain Axis Perspective.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Brain-body interactions in systemic diseases: a survey from an imaging perspective.MedScience · 2026Review
- Liver Fibrosis and the Risks of Impaired Cognition and Dementia: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Clinical Implications.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Lean Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease and Dementia Risk: A High-Risk Phenotype beyond Body Mass Index.Gut and liver · 2026Article
- Abdominal CT-derived metabolic phenotypes are associated with the MRI-derived brain age gap in women.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Cognitive dysfunction in MASLD is linked to platelet activation.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as a systemic disorder: extrahepatic manifestations and the need for data-driven phenotyping.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as a risk factor for cognitive decline: Findings from the ELSA-Brasil cohort.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- The Hypothalamic Nuclei Implicated in the Regulation of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Review of Its Clinical, Metabolic, and Endocrine Aspects.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Association between dietary flavonoids intake and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease especially in non-smokers: a cross-sectional study in US adults.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Mediating role of muscle quality in the liver-brain axis: integrated analysis of CT markers of body composition, brain aging, and biomarkers.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMetabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is linked to cognitive decline and dementia risk. We aimed to investigate the association between MASLD and brain ageing and explore the role of low-grade inflammation.
methodsWithin the UK Biobank, 30 386 chronic neurological disorders-free participants who underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were included. Individuals were categorised into no MASLD/related SLD and MASLD/related SLD (including subtypes of MASLD, MASLD with increased alcohol intake [MetALD] and MASLD with other combined aetiology). Brain age was estimated using machine learning by 1079 brain MRI phenotypes. Brain age gap (BAG) was calculated as the difference between brain age and chronological age. Low-grade inflammation (INFLA) was calculated based on white blood cell count, platelet, neutrophil granulocyte to lymphocyte ratio and C-reactive protein. Data were analysed using linear regression and structural equation models.
resultsAt baseline, 7360 (24.2%) participants had MASLD/related SLD. Compared to participants with no MASLD/related SLD, those with MASLD/related SLD had significantly larger BAG (β = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.70, 1.02), as well as those with MASLD (β = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.41, 0.77) or MetALD (β = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.31, 1.83). The association between MASLD/related SLD and larger BAG was significant across middle-aged (< 60) and older (≥ 60) adults, males and females, and APOE ɛ4 carriers and non-carriers. INFLA mediated 13.53% of the association between MASLD/related SLD and larger BAG (p < 0.001).
conclusionMASLD/related SLD, as well as MASLD and MetALD, is associated with accelerated brain ageing, even among middle-aged adults and APOE ɛ4 non-carriers. Low-grade systemic inflammation may partially mediate this association.
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