Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality due to chronic liver disease. There is an extensive body of evidence focusing on pharmacotherapy for MASLD. Reviews on the topic have been largely limited to the efficacy of select agents, subgroups or outcomes. The current is a protocol for a comprehensive systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) evaluating the efficacy of examined pharmaceutical interventions in improving hepatic outcomes of MASLD.

MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library database and multiple trial registries will be searched for clinical trials on MASLD pharmacotherapy. Histological, radiological and paraclinical outcomes will be considered along with safety and tolerability. Screening and data extraction will be conducted by pairs of independent reviewers. Risk of bias (RoB) will be assessed using the Cochrane RoB 2 tool. Pairwise random-effects meta-analyses will be conducted followed by random-effects frequentist NMAs—according to the length of intervention—for each outcome in clinically distinct MASLD subgroups. Other effect moderators will be examined in subgroup analyses and meta-regression. Certainty of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation and Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis approaches.

Ethics approval was waived (Alborz University of Medical Sciences; approval ID: IR.ABZUMS.REC.1404.121) as no new data will be generated. Information from published records will be used in compliance with their Copyright agreements. Results will be submitted for peer review and publication in a scientific journal.

CRD420251125615.

To investigate associations between body composition indices and metabolic status among normal-weight adults.

Cross-sectional study using data from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (phaseVII: 2019–2021).

Primary care and community health services in an urban Tehran population.

1298 adults (40.5% men, 59.5% women), aged 18–80years, body mass index (BMI) 18.5–24.9 kg/m². Exclusions: known diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, malignancy, pregnancy or lactation, diuretic or glucocorticoid use. Participants were classified as metabolically healthy normal weight (MHNW) or unhealthy (MUHNW).

The primary outcome was the association between body composition and anthropometric indices with metabolic status. The secondary outcome was identification of the strongest predictors of MUHNW. Body composition was assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis to obtain fat mass (FM), body fat percentage (BFP), skeletal muscle mass percentage (SMM%), fat mass index (FMI), fat-free mass index, skeletal muscle indices and the fat-to-muscle mass ratio (FMR). Anthropometric measures included waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Associations were examined using logistic regression adjusted for age, smoking and physical activity.

Mean age: 37.5±12.8 y; MUHNW participants were older than MHNW (44.5±13.2 vs 35.8±12.1 years, p

BMI, WC, WHR and body fat indices were positively associated with metabolically unhealthy status among normal-weight adults of both sexes. WHR was the strongest predictor, highlighting its value for identifying at-risk individuals where advanced body composition tools are unavailable.

Large differences exist in chronic kidney disease (CKD) rates between countries, but differences within diverse populations living in the same setting with universal healthcare are not well understood.

To compare dialysis prevalence, CKD risk factors and control, and CKD progression by ethnicity and birth country in an ethnoculturally diverse setting with high rates of kidney disease and universal healthcare.

Scarborough, Toronto’s most diverse region and site of Canada’s largest regional dialysis programme.

Double observational cohort study of 2397 participants: a retrospective cohort of 1116 residents who received dialysis between 2016–2019, and a prospective cohort of 1281 individuals with non-dialysis CKD followed for 3 years between 2010–2015 in Scarborough.

Dialysis prevalence, calculated by comparing frequencies of birth countries and ethnicities in the dialysis cohort with census-derived community frequencies. Secondary outcome measurements were traditional CKD risk factor prevalence (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease) and control (haemoglobin A1c, blood pressure); and CKD progression (estimated glomerular filtration rate decline, proteinuria) adjusted for socioeconomic status in the non-dialysis cohort.

Dialysis prevalence was 4.2 times higher in immigrants (p

Despite universal healthcare access, marked disparities in CKD risks and rates exist within ethnoculturally diverse immigrants living in this Canadian kidney disease hotspot. More focused research and tailored interventions are required.