Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41836939›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in medicine2026

Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15) as a modulator of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis: insights from a 6-year retrospective cohort study.

Nicole Anna Dietzel, Maria Schmidt, Johannes Wiegand, Thomas Berg, Ronald Biemann, Ronny Baber, Michael Kluge, Kerstin Wirkner, Dirk Alexander Wittekind

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PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Nicole Anna DietzelInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Maria SchmidtMedical Informatics Center-Division for Clinical AI and Translational Medicine, University of Leipzig Medical Center (MIC, MedKIT, ULMC), Leipzig, Germany.
Johannes WiegandDepartment of Medicine II, Division of Hepatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
Thomas BergDepartment of Medicine II, Division of Hepatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
Ronald BiemannInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Ronny BaberInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Michael KlugeDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Rudolf-Virchow-Klinikum Glauchau, Glauchau, Germany.
Kerstin WirknerLeipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases (LIFE), Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Dirk Alexander WittekindInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Liver diseases represent a major global health burden. Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15), a stress-induced cytokine, has been suggested to protect against fibrosis progression through neuro-metabolic-immunologic pathways and to regulate energy and lipid homeostasis, potentially influencing hepatic steatosis. This study evaluated the role of GDF-15 in steatosis and fibrosis, considering prior liver injury, alcohol intake, insulin resistance, and obesity. Design and methods: In this retrospective cohort study, 626 participants from a large population-based cohort were analyzed. Associations of baseline GDF-15, alcohol intake, FIB-4 score, and metabolic risk factors with hepatic steatosis and fibrosis over 6 years were examined using linear regression models. Results: In participants with elevated baseline FIB-4, the interaction of GDF-15 and FIB-4 was positively associated with follow-up liver stiffness (β = 0.47, Conclusions: GDF-15 appears to modulate hepatic steatosis and fibrosis in individuals with metabolic or lifestyle risk factors, supporting its potential as a therapeutic target and warranting further investigation of the neuro-metabolic-immunologic axis.

Indexed as

alcoholgrowth differentiation factor 15hepatic fibrosishepatic steatosisinsulin resistanceliver diseasesobesity

Identifiers

PMID41836939
PMCPMC12982360

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.