Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40347387›Full record

ArticleMetabolic brain disease2025

Low carbohydrate and low-calorie diets reduce liver fat and lower brain glutamate and myo-inositol levels in patients with Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD).

Andreana P Haley, Jack Knight-Scott, Marie Caillaud, Isabelle Gallagher, Jessica Park, Yanrong Li, Tianyu Wang, Hirofumi Tanaka, Jeffrey D Browning

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Study
In one paragraph

Article in Metabolic brain disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05216796 (Diet Intervention to Promote Liver and Brain Health in Adults With Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing 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.

NCT05216796 nacompletednot on this map

Diet Intervention to Promote Liver and Brain Health in Adults With Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of Texas at AustinRan2022 to 2024Enrolled55ConditionsMetabolic Syndrome, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, NAFLD, Pre-diabetesArmsDiet Intervention
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Article
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.

Andreana P HaleyDepartment of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton, Austin, TX, USA. haley@austin.utexas.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-1861-7861
Jack Knight-ScottDepartment of Radiology, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Marie CaillaudCentre de Recherche - CHU Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Canada.
Isabelle GallagherDepartment of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton, Austin, TX, USA.
Jessica ParkDepartment of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton, Austin, TX, USA.
Yanrong LiDepartment of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton, Austin, TX, USA.
Tianyu WangDepartment of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Hirofumi TanakaDepartment of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Jeffrey D BrowningDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.

Funding

UT Southwestern NORCP30DK127984 · NIDDK · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · PI Jeffrey M Zigman · 2022 to 2026
$7.4M
NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK127984
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In a longitudinal cohort study with intervention (NCT05216796), we utilized multiorgan imaging to determine if metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is associated with elevated cerebral glutamate and myo-inositol and to determine their sensitivity to dietary intervention. Fifty-five adults with self-reported MASLD or high MASLD risk (3 + metabolic risk factors) received liver and brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy scans pre and post two-week low carbohydrate (≤30 g/d) or low-calorie (women ~ 1200 kcal/d; men ~ 1500 kcal/d) diet, both known for their ability to reduce liver fat. Forty-four adults completed the study (36 female, average age 54 years). Thirty out of 44 met clinical criterion for MASLD based on neuroimaging (≥ 5% hepatic triglycerides). Intervention was associated with significant decreases in liver fat fraction (mean difference = 3.101, 95% CI 2.104-4.099, p < 0.0001), glutamate (mean difference = 0.753, 95% CI 0.274-1.233, p = 0.0032) and myo-inositol (mean difference = 0.478, 95% CI 0.180-0.775, p = 0.0027) in patients with confirmed MASLD. Thus, MASLD may be a source of glutamate neurotoxicity and neuroinflammation and diet is an effective strategy for supporting brain as well as liver health.

Indexed as

BrainCaloric RestrictionDiet, Carbohydrate-RestrictedFatty LiverGlutamic AcidInositolLiverAdultAgedCohort StudiesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMagnetic Resonance SpectroscopyMaleMiddle AgedGlutamic AcidInositol

Identifiers

PMID40347387
PMCPMC12065739

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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 OpenQuestion graph.