Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41735280›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Clinically distinct metabotypes of pediatric MASLD identified through unsupervised clustering of NASH CRN data.

Helaina E Huneault, Pradeep Tiwari, Zachery R Jarrell, Matthew Ryan Smith, Chih-Yu Chen, Ana Ramirez Tovar, Cristian Sanchez-Torres, Scott Gillespie, Shasha Bai, Rodrigo M Carrillo-Larco and 14 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
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

24 authors.

Helaina E HuneaultNutrition & Health Sciences Program, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. hhuneau@emory.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3866-2387
Pradeep TiwariHubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Zachery R JarrellDivision of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4670-1497
Matthew Ryan SmithVA Healthcare System of Atlanta, Decatur, GA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8889-3477
Chih-Yu ChenEmory Integrated Metabolomics and Lipidomics Core, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Ana Ramirez TovarNutrition & Health Sciences Program, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Cristian Sanchez-TorresDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Scott GillespiePediatric Biostatistics Core, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Shasha BaiPediatric Biostatistics Core, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Rodrigo M Carrillo-LarcoHubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Ajay K JainDepartment of Pediatrics, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
Katherine P YatesDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6138-2194
Brent A Neuschwander-TetriDepartment of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8520-7398
Jeffrey B SchwimmerDepartment of Gastroenterology, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
Stavra A XanthakosDivision of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Jean P MollestonDepartment of Pediatrics, Indiana University/Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Cynthia A BehlingSharp Memorial Hospital, San Diego, California, USA.
Mark H FishbeinDepartment of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Terryl J HartmanNutrition & Health Sciences Program, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Francisco J PasquelDivision of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3845-6703
Rishikesan KamaleswaranDepartment of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
Dean P JonesDivision of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2090-0677
Jean A WelshNutrition & Health Sciences Program, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Miriam B VosNutrition & Health Sciences Program, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Funding

Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research NetworkU01DK061732 · NIDDK · CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU · PI Srinivasan Dasarathy · 2002 to 2026
$12.2M
VEDS Year2-Continuation of the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network (NASH CRN) Data Coordinating CenterU24DK061730 · NIDDK · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI JEANNE M CLARK, David M Shade · 2019 to 2026
$11.3M
Sibling Assessment in Prevention of Pediatric NAFLD in Hispanic ChildrenR01NR019083 · NINR · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI WELSH, JEAN A. · 2021 to 2025
$3.3M
Role of bile acid receptors FXR and TGR5 in preventing injury in short bowel syndromeR01DK131136 · NIDDK · SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY · PI JAIN, AJAY K. · 2021 to 2025
$1.9M
Biomarker Discovery for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in ChildrenR01DK125701 · NIDDK · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI VOS, MIRIAM B. · 2020 to 2022
$1.0M
Dietary Fructose and Redox Effects in Pediatric Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver DiseaseK23DK080953 · NIDDK · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI VOS, MIRIAM B. · 2008 to 2012
$871k
Role of intestinal microbiota in driving injury mechanisms in short bowel syndromeR21AI169487 · NIAID · SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY · PI JAIN, AJAY K. · 2022 to 2023
$428k
Patient-Oriented Research for Cardiometabolic Health in ChildrenK24HL171937 · NHLBI · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · PI MIRIAM B. VOS · 2024 to 2026
$255k
BLRD VA IK2 BX005913NHLBI NIH HHS K24 HL171937NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI169487NIDDK NIH HHS K23 DK080953NIDDK NIH HHS R01 DK125701NIDDK NIH HHS R01 DK131136NIDDK NIH HHS U01 DK061732NIDDK NIH HHS U24 DK061730NINR NIH HHS R01 NR019083U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) UL1TR002378 (MBV), UL1TR000454 (MBV), and UL1TR000448 (MBV)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most common liver disease worldwide, yet treatment remains "one size fits all," despite phenotypic heterogeneity. We analyzed clinical and metabolomics data from 514 children (ages 5-18, 73% male) with biopsy-proven MASLD across three NASH Clinical Research Network studies. Unsupervised clustering of clinical data identified three distinct metabotypes: early-mild (49.4%, youngest, lowest lipids, liver enzymes, insulin resistance), cardiometabolic (36.8%, highest waist circumference, lipids, uric acid, SBP), and inflammatory-fibrotic (13.8%, highest liver enzymes, steatohepatitis, advanced fibrosis). Integrative network and pathway enrichment analyses revealed alterations in tryptophan metabolism within the inflammatory-fibrotic group, including elevated kynurenine pathway metabolites, which were significantly correlated with fibrosis stage. Branched-chain amino acid degradation, butanoate, and purine metabolism demonstrated greater enrichment in the cardiometabolic group. Here, we show that pediatric MASLD subtypes differ in clinical and metabolic features, providing a framework for targeted interventions, with validation needed in independent cohorts.

Indexed as

Fatty LiverMetabolomeNon-alcoholic Fatty Liver DiseaseAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolCluster AnalysisClustering AlgorithmsFemaleHumansLiverLiver CirrhosisMaleMetabolomics

Identifiers

PMID41735280
PMCPMC13039967

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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.