ArticleThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2019
Plasma Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Is Associated With Severity of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis in Patients With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.
Article in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 96 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circulating Fibroblast Growth Factor-21 in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current obesity reports · 2025Pooled it
- Global epidemiology of type 2 diabetes in patients with NAFLD or MAFLD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Contribution of Liver and Pancreatic Islet Crosstalk to β-Cell Function/Dysfunction in the Presence of Fatty Liver.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of interleukin-1 antagonism and corticosteroids on fibroblast growth factor-21 in patients with metabolic syndrome.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- AKR-001, an Fc-FGF21 Analog, Showed Sustained Pharmacodynamic Effects on Insulin Sensitivity and Lipid Metabolism in Type 2 Diabetes Patients.Cell reports. Medicine · 2020Trial
- Role of adipocytes and their derived extracellular vesicles in the progression, diagnosis and treatment of liver diseases (Review).International journal of molecular medicine · 2026Review
- When the Liver Flares: Inflammatory and Immunometabolic Mechanisms Driving the Transition from MASLD to MASH.Inflammation · 2026Review
- Diagnostic Value of Serum Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Combined with Fibrosis-4 Index for Hepatic Fibrosis in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.The Turkish journal of gastroenterology : the official journal of Turkish Society of Gastroenterology · 2026Article
- Breast Cancer and Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Serum soluble ASGR1 concentration is elevated in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and is associated with adiponectin.BMJ open diabetes research & care · 2026Article
- Adipokine in Metabolic Liver Disease: Adipo-Brain-Liver Cross talk.International journal of endocrinology · 2026Review
- MASLD: Lipotoxicity and Imaging Parallels from Liver Steatosis to Kidney Injury.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Low-Abundance Proteomics Reveal Pleiotrophin and Fibroblast Growth Factor-21 as Biomarkers of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Adipokine and Hepatokines in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD): Current and Developing Trends.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- FGF21 reverses MASH through coordinated actions on the CNS and liver.Cell metabolism · 2025Article
- Mitochondrial dysfunction characterises the multigenerational effects of maternal obesity on MASLD.JHEP reports : innovation in hepatology · 2025Article
- FGF21 deletion mildly exacerbates hepatic dysfunction in GAN diet and alcohol fed rats.npj metabolic health and disease · 2025Article
- Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Liver Steatosis and Fibrosis, Serum FGF-21 and Autophagy Markers in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Weight-adjusted waist circumference index with hepatic steatosis and fibrosis in adult females: a cross-sectional, nationally representative study (NHANES 2017-2020).BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Effects of exercise intensity and diet on cardiac tissue structure and FGF21/β-Klotho signaling in type 2 diabetic mice: a comparative study of HFD and HFD + STZ induced type 2 diabetes models in mice.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2025Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
contextThe relationship between plasma fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), insulin resistance, and steatohepatitis has not been systematically assessed.
objectiveTo determine if higher plasma FGF21 is associated with worse steatohepatitis on liver biopsy in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). DESIGN AND
settingCross-sectional study in a university hospital. PATIENTS INTERVENTIONS AND
main outcome measuresPatients with a body mass index >25 (n = 187) underwent: (i) euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp to assess tissue-specific insulin resistance (IR); (ii) liver magnetic resonance spectroscopy for intrahepatic triglyceride quantification, (iii) liver biopsy (if NAFLD present; n = 146); and (iv) fasting plasma FGF21 levels. METHODS AND
resultsPatients were divided into three groups: (i) No NAFLD (n = 41); (ii) No nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) (patients with isolated steatosis or borderline NASH; n = 52); and (iii) NASH (patients with definite NASH; n = 94). Groups were well-matched for age/sex, prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hemoglobin A1c. During euglycemic hyperinsulinemic insulin clamp, insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue worsened from No NAFLD to NASH (both P < 0.001). Plasma FGF21 levels correlated inversely with insulin sensitivity in adipose tissue (r = -0.17, P = 0.006) and skeletal muscle (r = -0.23, P = 0.007), but not with liver insulin sensitivity. Plasma FGF21 was higher in patients with NASH (453 ± 262 pg/mL) when compared with the No NASH (341 ± 198 pg/mL, P = 0.03) or No NAFLD (325 ± 289 pg/mL, P = 0.02) groups. Plasma FGF21 increased with the severity of necroinflammation (P = 0.02), and most significantly with worse fibrosis (P < 0.001), but not with worsening steatosis (P = 0.60).
conclusionsPlasma FGF21 correlates with severity of steatohepatitis, in particular of fibrosis, in patients with NASH. Measurement of FGF21 may help identify patients at the highest risk of disease progression.
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