Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
197,768 studies31 sourcesUpdated 49 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine

Prevalence of liver steatosis and stiffness by transient elastography and serum markers in Japanese early adolescents

  • Ayaka Ito1
  • Yuki Ito1
  • Sayaka Kato1
  • Yukihiro Ohya1
  • Daiki Hiraoka1
  • Kyoko Minato1
  • Gui Yang1
  • Shigeaki Hida2
  • Mayumi Sugiura-Ogasawara3
  • Shinji Saitoh4
  • Michihiro Kamijima1
4 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan
  2. 2Department of Molecular and Cellular Health Sciences, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya 467-8603, Japan
  3. 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan
  4. 4Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is projected to increase in the Asian pediatric population. However, data regarding its prevalence in the general pediatric population are limited. We aimed to determine the prevalence of liver steatosis and liver stiffness, measured by controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM), respectively, using FibroScan® in the general pediatric population, and to assess their associations with sex, BMI, abdominal circumference (AC), and serum parameters.

Methods: The CAP and LSM were measured in 1,435 children aged 9–12 years in the Aichi Regional Adjunct Study of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. Elevated CAP and LSM values were defined by age-specific CAP and LSM cutoffs (11–12 and 9–10 years: CAP >225 and >220 dB/m and LSM >6.5 and >5.8 kPa, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for sex, BMI, AC, HDL-Chol, non-HDL-Chol, TG, and ALT levels, was performed.

Results: At 11–12 years, the prevalence of elevated CAP and LSM was 12.6% and 2.9%, respectively. Children with higher CAP exhibited significantly higher BMI and AC. TG and ALT levels were significantly associated with higher CAP, whereas lower non-HDL-Chol levels were significantly associated with higher LSM. At 9–10 years, higher LSM was more prevalent in males.

Conclusion: This study reports the prevalence of elevated CAP and LSM values and their association with biomarkers in a large cohort of the general pediatric population in Japan. This partially contributes to the understanding of the epidemiology of MASLD and supports the development of early prevention and risk-stratification approaches.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1265/ehpm.26-00150.

Related

  1. Hepatic steatosis assessed by transient elastography in patients with significant coronary artery disease: a cross-sectional study.
    Behshad Naghshtabrizi, Elnaz Ataei, Saeideh Naserian +2
    BMC gastroenterologyPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDFull textEpidemiology & public healthEurope PMCPMC
  2. Predicting Liver Stiffness Approximately 12 Months Ahead Using Serial Transient Elastography
    Ming Lei, Shoukang Zou, Qing Liu +4
    Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology & HepatologyPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textEpidemiology & public healthPMC
  3. Increased Liver Stiffness in Systemic Sclerosis: A Single-Centre Transient Elastography Study
    Nicola Ortalli, Alberto Civolani, Simone Aldo Lari +9
    Journal of Clinical MedicinePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0General medicineCrossref
  4. Shear-Wave Elastography in Musculoskeletal Pain: Current Evidence and Clinical Applications for Tissue Stiffness Assessment
    Hortensia De la Corte-Rodríguez, Beatriz A. Rodríguez-Damiani, Natalia Pinilla-Téllez +2
    Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)Peer-reviewedCC BYFull textGeneral medicineEurope PMC
  5. Hepatic steatosis and diabetic retinopathy in individuals with type 1 diabetes: a cross-sectional study using liver elastography
    Alicia Justel Enríquez, Elena Carrillo Lopez, Carolina Sager La Ganga +2
    Frontiers in EndocrinologyPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Endocrinology & metabolismCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{ito2026prevalence,
  title = {{Prevalence of liver steatosis and stiffness by transient elastography and serum markers in Japanese early adolescents}},
  author = {Ayaka Ito and Yuki Ito and Sayaka Kato and Yukihiro Ohya and Daiki Hiraoka and Kyoko Minato and Gui Yang and Shigeaki Hida and Mayumi Sugiura-Ogasawara and Shinji Saitoh and Michihiro Kamijima},
  journal = {Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1265/ehpm.26-00150},
  url = {https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ehpm/31/0/31_26-00150/_article},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Prevalence of liver steatosis and stiffness by transient elastography and serum markers in Japanese early adolescents
AU  - Ayaka Ito
AU  - Yuki Ito
AU  - Sayaka Kato
AU  - Yukihiro Ohya
AU  - Daiki Hiraoka
AU  - Kyoko Minato
AU  - Gui Yang
AU  - Shigeaki Hida
AU  - Mayumi Sugiura-Ogasawara
AU  - Shinji Saitoh
AU  - Michihiro Kamijima
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/20
JO  - Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
DO  - 10.1265/ehpm.26-00150
UR  - https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ehpm/31/0/31_26-00150/_article
AB  - Background: The prevalence of metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is projected to increase in the Asian pediatric population. However, data regarding its prevalence in the general pediatric population are limited. We aimed to determine the prevalence of liver steatosis and liver stiffness, measured by controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM), respectively, using FibroScan® in the general pediatric population, and to assess their associations with sex, BMI, abdominal circumference (AC), and serum parameters.  Methods: The CAP and LSM were measured in 1,435 children aged 9–12 years in the Aichi Regional Adjunct Study of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. Elevated CAP and LSM values were defined by age-specific CAP and LSM cutoffs (11–12 and 9–10 years: CAP >225 and >220 dB/m and LSM >6.5 and >5.8 kPa, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for sex, BMI, AC, HDL-Chol, non-HDL-Chol, TG, and ALT levels, was performed.  Results: At 11–12 years, the prevalence of elevated CAP and LSM was 12.6% and 2.9%, respectively. Children with higher CAP exhibited significantly higher BMI and AC. TG and ALT levels were significantly associated with higher CAP, whereas lower non-HDL-Chol levels were significantly associated with higher LSM. At 9–10 years, higher LSM was more prevalent in males.  Conclusion: This study reports the prevalence of elevated CAP and LSM values and their association with biomarkers in a large cohort of the general pediatric population in Japan. This partially contributes to the understanding of the epidemiology of MASLD and supports the development of early prevention and risk-stratification approaches.  Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1265/ehpm.26-00150.
SN  - 1347-4715
SN  - 1342-078X
ER  -