Delpino MV. Letter to the Editor: Skeletal muscle transcriptomics in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease - balancing promise with validation. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(38): 121683 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.121683]
Corresponding Author of This Article
María Victoria Delpino, PhD, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Paraguay 2155, Buenos Aires C1121ABG, Argentina. mdelpino@ffyb.uba.ar
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
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letter
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Delpino MV. Letter to the Editor: Skeletal muscle transcriptomics in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease - balancing promise with validation. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(38): 121683 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.121683]
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 14, 2026; 32(38): 121683 Published online Oct 14, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.121683
Letter to the Editor: Skeletal muscle transcriptomics in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease - balancing promise with validation
María Victoria Delpino
María Victoria Delpino, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires C1121ABG, Argentina
Author contributions: The author solely conceived, drafted, critically revised, and approved the final version of the manuscript.
AI contribution statement: ChatGPT was used in preparing the manuscript and reviewer response documents. ChatGPT was used solely for language polishing and grammar correction. It was not used for translation, data analysis, interpretation of results, scientific writing, or content generation.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author reports no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: María Victoria Delpino, PhD, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Paraguay 2155, Buenos Aires C1121ABG, Argentina. mdelpino@ffyb.uba.ar
Received: March 30, 2026 Revised: April 16, 2026 Accepted: May 18, 2026 Published online: October 14, 2026 Processing time: 158 Days and 23.7 Hours
Abstract
This letter underscores the clinical relevance of the study by Zhang et al published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology on exercise-responsive skeletal muscle genes in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and commends its integrative design. We also note key limitations, including a permissive differential expression threshold that could be refined by applying more stringent criteria (e.g., |log2FC| ≥ 0.5 with false discovery rate < 0.05) and the fact that receiver operating characteristic analyses do not equate to clinical diagnostic validation. The exercise-related changes in LAMA4, PECAM1, PXDN, and THBS4 are intriguing and may reflect muscle-liver crosstalk; however, further human and functional validation is needed before clinical translation.
Core Tip: Zhang et al identify exercise-responsive skeletal muscle genes that may help explain the metabolic benefits of exercise in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. Their integrative approach is promising, but these candidate markers require validation in well-designed, multi-center prospective human cohorts with paired liver histology or imaging data, additional human validation and functional studies before they can be considered for clinical use.
