Here’s a summary of the 10/25/2025 article “Systematic Mapping of Worldwide Research on Metabolic Dysfunction‑Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) and Metabolic Dysfunction‑Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH)“ (PMID: 41137873) on global research trends for MASLD/MASH.
Results: Analysis of the 1000 most cited MASLD/MASH publications revealed rapid growth since the early 2000s, peaking at over 60 papers annually between 2010 and 2020, with an apparent recent decline due to citation lag. The United States dominated both output and citations, far surpassing other countries. Hepatology, Journal of Hepatology, and Gastroenterology accounted for most influential publications. Leading contributors included two authors, with 50 articles each. Striking gender disparities emerged: only 3% of top 100 papers had female first authors. Overall, research remains concentrated geographically, institutionally, and by author, with persistent inequities in authorship representation.
Aims
- Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is now the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, and a substantial proportion of patients with it develop metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
- The authors aimed to map the research landscape globally for MASLD/MASH: publication volume, country/institution contributions, authorship patterns, journal distribution, and disparities (geographic, gender) in the literature.
Methods
- They searched the Web of Science Core Collection for publications from 1980 to 2024 (extraction date June 15, 2025) and included 36,268 records after excluding meeting abstracts.
- Bibliometric tools (in R, using the Bibliometrix package) were used to analyze trends: annual outputs, country/institutional contributions, most cited papers (top 1,000), first-author gender, etc.
Key Results
- Publication volume increased steadily since early 2000s, with peaks of >60 papers/year around 2010-2020.
- The U.S. dominated both in number of publications and citations, significantly ahead of other countries.
- Most influential journals: Hepatology, Journal of Hepatology, Gastroenterology.
- Among the top 1,000 most cited papers: strong geographic and institutional concentration; gender disparity was profound — only ~3% of those top papers had a female first author.
- The research is heavily concentrated in particular institutions and authors, indicating a lack of broad global/institutional diversity.
Implications
- MASLD/MASH research is “mature” in some regions (especially the U.S.), but global representation is uneven and authorship/gender/institutional disparities persist.
- To advance the field, the authors argue for greater geographic/institutional inclusivity, increased female first-author representation, and more global collaboration.
- From a strategic viewpoint: identifying these gaps helps in directing capacity-building, research funding, and collaborations—important for your field (virtual liver clinics, wider screening/diagnosis) because it highlights where research and practice may be lagging.