Hashimoto Y, Hamaguchi M, Okamura T, et al. - According to this cross-sectional study, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) was related to an increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate of < 60 mL/min/1.73 m ² and/or proteinuria, whereas fatty liver disease (FLD) without metabolic dysfunction (MD) was not associated with an increased risk of CKD.

• The sample consisted of 27,371 candidates, the proportions of those in the non-FLD without MD, non-FLD with MD, FLD without MD, and MAFLD groups were 48.7%, 28.2%, 2.3%, and 20.8%, respectively.

• MAFLD was more likely to have CKD than non-FLD without MD, whereas FLD without MD was not.

• Furthermore, when compared with FLD without MD, MAFLD was more likely to have CKD.

• In this retrospective cohort analysis, 16,938 out of 27,371 candidates were followed for a median of 4.6 years, with incidence data of non-FLD without MD, non-FLD with MD, FLD without MD, and MAFLD being 21.0, 31.1, 26.1, and 31.1 cases per 1,000 person-years, respectively.

• MAFLD was at a higher risk of incident CKD than non-FLD without MD, whereas FLD without MD was not.