Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease is Becoming the Leading Driver of the Burden of Cirrhosis in China: Results From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

Objective: Cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases (generally referred to as cirrhosis in this article) are major causes of morbidity and mortality in China. The disease pattern of cirrhosis caused by different etiologies has been changing due to economic development and changes in lifestyle.

Methods: Prevalence, incidence, disability-adjusted life-years, and mortality data were retrieved from the Global Burden of Disease study, 2019. Estimated annual percentage change was used to quantify the trends in the age-standardized prevalence rate and prevalence number of cirrhosis from 1990 to 2019. We presented the results for five causes of cirrhosis, and for different age and sex groups.

Results: Nationwide, we found that the prevalence number of liver cirrhosis increased steadily (from 3025.3×105 to 4279.8×105) from 1990 to 2019. Notably, the age-standardized prevalence rate of cirrhosis caused by metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) increased throughout the study period, and MASLD has exceeded the hepatitis B virus and become the leading cause of liver cirrhosis since 1992. The highest prevalence number of MASLD occurred in the young population aged between 15 to 49 years.

Conclusion: The prevalence of liver cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B virus decreased, whereas the prevalence of liver cirrhosis caused by MASLD increased. MASLD has become the leading cause of liver cirrhosis in China. The prevalence of liver cirrhosis increased most significantly in the young age group compared with the other age group. Preventive strategies targeting MASLD would be necessary to reduce the disease burden of cirrhosis in China, especially in the young aged generation.