# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/liver-disease-diagnosis-and-treatment/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment research in the Class of 2026?

Liver disease research is dominated by MASLD, which surged to 50% frequency as legacy NAFLD terminology rapidly declined. High-impact studies increasingly pivot toward GLP-1 receptor agonists, lipid metabolism, and hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance, while traditional non-invasive tools like FibroScan show declining relative focus in favor of targeted molecular profiling.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 20,291 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | MASLD, steatohepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma, GLP-1 receptor agonists, liver fibrosis |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 109–944 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | A Phase 3, Randomized, Controlled Trial of Resmetirom in NASH with Liver Fibrosis | Stephen A Harrison, Pierre Bedossa, Cynthia D Guy, Jörn M Schattenberg, Rohit Loomba, Rebecca Taub, Dominic Labriola, Sam E Moussa, Guy W Neff, Mary E Rinella, Quentin M Anstee, Manal F Abdelmalek, Zobair Younossi, Seth J Baum, Sven Francque, Michael R Charlton, Philip N Newsome, Nicolas Lanthier, Ingolf Schiefke, Alessandra Mangia, Juan M Pericàs, Rashmee Patil, Arun J Sanyal, Mazen Noureddin, Meena B Bansal, Naim Alkhouri, Laurent Castera, Madhavi Rudraraju, Vlad Ratziu, MAESTRO-NASH Investigators | Stephen A Harrison | University of Oxford, United Kingdom | New England Journal of Medicine | 944 | 10.1056/nejmoa2309000 |
| 2 | Tirzepatide for Metabolic Dysfunction–Associated Steatohepatitis with Liver Fibrosis | Rohit Loomba, Mark L Hartman, Eric J Lawitz, Raj Vuppalanchi, Jérôme Boursier, Elisabetta Bugianesi, Masato Yoneda, Cynthia Behling, Oscar W Cummings, Yuanyuan Tang, Bram Brouwers, Deborah A Robins, Amir Nikooie, Mathijs C Bunck, Axel Haupt, Arun J Sanyal, SYNERGY-NASH Investigators | Rohit Loomba | University of California at San Diego, United States | New England Journal of Medicine | 528 | 10.1056/nejmoa2401943 |
| 3 | Current status and future trends of the global burden of MASLD | Lei Miao, Giovanni Targher, Christopher D Byrne, Ying-Ying Cao, Ming-Hua Zheng | Ming‐Hua Zheng | The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, China | Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism | 350 | 10.1016/j.tem.2024.02.007 |
| 4 | A Phase 2 Randomized Trial of Survodutide in MASH and Fibrosis | Arun J Sanyal, Pierre Bedossa, Mandy Fraessdorf, Guy W Neff, Eric Lawitz, Elisabetta Bugianesi, Quentin M Anstee, Samina Ajaz Hussain, Philip N Newsome, Vlad Ratziu, Azadeh Hosseini-Tabatabaei, Jörn M Schattenberg, Mazen Noureddin, Naim Alkhouri, Ramy Younes, 1404-0043 Trial Investigators | Arun J Sanyal | Virginia Commonwealth University, United States | New England Journal of Medicine | 306 | 10.1056/nejmoa2401755 |
| 5 | Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: heterogeneous pathomechanisms and effectiveness of metabolism-based treatment | Norbert Stefan, Hannele Yki-Järvinen, Brent A Neuschwander-Tetri | Norbert Stefan | University Hospital Tübingen, Germany | The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology | 288 | 10.1016/s2213-8587(24)00318-8 |
| 6 | Global burden of metabolic diseases, 1990–2021 | Huai Zhang, Xiao-Dong Zhou, Michael D Shapiro, Gregory Y H Lip, Herbert Tilg, Luca Valenti, Virend K Somers, Christopher D Byrne, Giovanni Targher, Wah Yang, Octavio Viveiros, Christopher Kenneth Opio, Christos S Mantzoros, John D Ryan, Kenneth Yuh Yen Kok, Nozim Adxamovich Jumaev, Nilanka Perera, Andrew Gerard Robertson, Adam Abu-Abeid, Anoop Misra, Yu Jun Wong, Elena Ruiz-Úcar, Oral Ospanov, Mehmet Celal Kızılkaya, Fei Luo, Nahum Méndez-Sánchez, Mauricio Zuluaga, Amedeo Lonardo, Hazem Al Momani, Carlos Jesus Toro-Huamanchumo, Leon Adams, Said A Al-Busafi, Ala I Sharara, Wah-Kheong Chan, Syed Imran Abbas, Silvia Sookoian, Sombat Treeprasertsuk, Ponsiano Ocama, Khalid Alswat, Alice Pik-Shan Kong, Karim Ataya, Michelle Ching Lim-Loo, Rodolfo J Oviedo, Olivia Szepietowski, Yasser Fouad, Huijie Zhang, Tamer N Abdelbaki, Christos S Katsouras, Arun Prasad, Omar Thaher, Arshad Ali, Gabriel Alejandro Molina, Ki-Chul Sung, Qin-Fen Chen, Cosmas Rinaldi Adithya Lesmana, Ming-Hua Zheng | Ming‐Hua Zheng | The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, China | Metabolism | 240 | 10.1016/j.metabol.2024.155999 |
| 7 | Atlas of the plasma proteome in health and disease in 53,026 adults | Yue-Ting Deng, Jia You, Yu He, Yi Zhang, Hai-Yun Li, Xin-Rui Wu, Ji-Yun Cheng, Yu Guo, Zi-Wen Long, Yi-Lin Chen, Ze-Yu Li, Liu Yang, Ya-Ru Zhang, Shi-Dong Chen, Yi-Jun Ge, Yu-Yuan Huang, Le-Ming Shi, Qiang Dong, Ying Mao, Jian-Feng Feng, Wei Cheng, Jin-Tai Yu | Ying Mao, Jianfeng Feng, Wei Cheng, Jin‐Tai Yu | Fudan University, China | Cell | 226 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.10.045 |
| 8 | Natural history and progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease | Hannes Hagström, Ying Shang, Hannes Hegmar, Patrik Nasr | Hannes Hagström | Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden | ˜The œLancet. Gastroenterology & hepatology | 183 | 10.1016/s2468-1253(24)00193-6 |
| 9 | Clinical profiles and mortality rates are similar for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease | Zobair M Younossi, James M Paik, Maria Stepanova, Janus Ong, Saleh Alqahtani, Linda Henry | Zobair M. Younossi | Inova Health System, United States | Journal of Hepatology | 182 | 10.1016/j.jhep.2024.01.014 |
| 10 | Gut symbionts alleviate MASH through a secondary bile acid biosynthetic pathway | Qixing Nie, Xi Luo, Kai Wang, Yong Ding, Shumi Jia, Qixiang Zhao, Meng Li, Jinxin Zhang, Yingying Zhuo, Jun Lin, Chenghao Guo, Zhiwei Zhang, Huiying Liu, Guangyi Zeng, Jie You, Lulu Sun, Hua Lu, Ming Ma, Yanxing Jia, Ming-Hua Zheng, Yanli Pang, Jie Qiao, Changtao Jiang | Yanxing Jia, Ming‐Hua Zheng, Yanli Pang, Jie Qiao, Changtao Jiang | Peking University, China | Cell | 166 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.03.034 |
| 11 | Liver cancer in 2021: Global Burden of Disease study | En Ying Tan, Pojsakorn Danpanichkul, Jie Ning Yong, Zhenning Yu, Darren Jun Hao Tan, Wen Hui Lim, Benjamin Koh, Ryan Yan Zhe Lim, Ethan Kai Jun Tham, Kartik Mitra, Asahiro Morishita, Yao-Chun Hsu, Ju Dong Yang, Hirokazu Takahashi, Ming-Hua Zheng, Atsushi Nakajima, Cheng Han Ng, Karn Wijarnpreecha, Mark D Muthiah, Amit G Singal, Daniel Q Huang | Daniel Q. Huang | National University Health System, Singapore | Journal of Hepatology | 163 | 10.1016/j.jhep.2024.10.031 |
| 12 | An unbiased ranking of murine dietary models based on their proximity to human metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) | Michele Vacca, Ioannis Kamzolas, Lea Mørch Harder, Fiona Oakley, Christian Trautwein, Maximilian Hatting, Trenton Ross, Barbara Bernardo, Anouk Oldenburger, Sara Toftegaard Hjuler, Iwona Ksiazek, Daniel Lindén, Detlef Schuppan, Sergio Rodriguez-Cuenca, Maria Manuela Tonini, Tamara R Castañeda, Aimo Kannt, Cecília M P Rodrigues, Simon Cockell, Olivier Govaere, Ann K Daly, Michael Allison, Kristian Honnens de Lichtenberg, Yong Ook Kim, Anna Lindblom, Stephanie Oldham, Anne-Christine Andréasson, Franklin Schlerman, Jonathon Marioneaux, Arun Sanyal, Marta B Afonso, Ramy Younes, Yuichiro Amano, Scott L Friedman, Shuang Wang, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Eric Simon, Valérie Paradis, Alastair Burt, Ioanna Maria Grypari, Susan Davies, Ann Driessen, Hiroaki Yashiro, Susanne Pors, Maja Worm Andersen, Michael Feigh, Carla Yunis, Pierre Bedossa, Michelle Stewart, Heather L Cater, Sara Wells, Jörn M Schattenberg, Quentin M Anstee, LITMUS Investigators, Dina Tiniakos, James W Perfield, Evangelia Petsalaki, Peter Davidsen, Antonio Vidal-Puig | Michèle Vacca, Dina Tiniakos, Antonio Vidal-Puig, Michèle Vacca, Evangelia Petsalaki | University of Cambridge, United Kingdom | Nature Metabolism | 162 | 10.1038/s42255-024-01043-6 |
| 13 | Triple hormone receptor agonist retatrutide for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: a randomized phase 2a trial | Arun J Sanyal, Lee M Kaplan, Juan P Frias, Bram Brouwers, Qiwei Wu, Melissa K Thomas, Charles Harris, Nanette C Schloot, Yu Du, Kieren J Mather, Axel Haupt, Mark L Hartman | Arun J. Sanyal | Virginia Commonwealth University, United States | Nature Medicine | 156 | 10.1038/s41591-024-03018-2 |
| 14 | The Global Epidemiology of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes | Zobair M Younossi, Pegah Golabi, Jillian Kallman Price, Soroor Owrangi, Nagashree Gundu-Rao, Romona Satchi, James M Paik | Zobair M Younossi | Inova Health System, United States | Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology | 151 | 10.1016/j.cgh.2024.03.006 |
| 15 | Genome-wide characterization of circulating metabolic biomarkers | Minna K Karjalainen, Savita Karthikeyan, Clare Oliver-Williams, Eeva Sliz, Elias Allara, Wing Tung Fung, Praveen Surendran, Weihua Zhang, Pekka Jousilahti, Kati Kristiansson, Veikko Salomaa, Matt Goodwin, David A Hughes, Michael Boehnke, Lilian Fernandes Silva, Xianyong Yin, Anubha Mahajan, Matt J Neville, Natalie R van Zuydam, Renée de Mutsert, Ruifang Li-Gao, Dennis O Mook-Kanamori, Ayse Demirkan, Jun Liu, Raymond Noordam, Stella Trompet, Zhengming Chen, Christiana Kartsonaki, Liming Li, Kuang Lin, Fiona A Hagenbeek, Jouke Jan Hottenga, René Pool, M Arfan Ikram, Joyce van Meurs, Toomas Haller, Yuri Milaneschi, Mika Kähönen, Pashupati P Mishra, Peter K Joshi, Erin Macdonald-Dunlop, Massimo Mangino, Jonas Zierer, Ilhan E Acar, Carel B Hoyng, Yara T E Lechanteur, Lude Franke, Alexander Kurilshikov, Alexandra Zhernakova, Marian Beekman, Erik B van den Akker, Ivana Kolcic, Ozren Polasek, Igor Rudan, Christian Gieger, Melanie Waldenberger, Folkert W Asselbergs, China Kadoorie Biobank Collaborative Group, Estonian Biobank Research Team, FinnGen, Caroline Hayward, Jingyuan Fu, Anneke I den Hollander, Cristina Menni, Tim D Spector, James F Wilson, Terho Lehtimäki, Olli T Raitakari, Brenda W J H Penninx, Tonu Esko, Robin G Walters, J Wouter Jukema, Naveed Sattar, Mohsen Ghanbari, Ko Willems van Dijk, Fredrik Karpe, Mark I McCarthy, Markku Laakso, Marjo-Riitta Järvelin, Nicholas J Timpson, Markus Perola, Jaspal S Kooner, John C Chambers, Cornelia van Duijn, P Eline Slagboom, Dorret I Boomsma, John Danesh, Mika Ala-Korpela, Adam S Butterworth, Johannes Kettunen | Minna K. Karjalainen | University of Oulu, Finland | Nature | 151 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07148-y |
| 16 | Data-driven cluster analysis identifies distinct types of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease | Violeta Raverdy, Federica Tavaglione, Estelle Chatelain, Guillaume Lassailly, Antonio De Vincentis, Umberto Vespasiani-Gentilucci, Sami F Qadri, Robert Caiazzo, Helene Verkindt, Chiara Saponaro, Julie Kerr-Conte, Gregory Baud, Camille Marciniak, Mikael Chetboun, Naima Oukhouya-Daoud, Samuel Blanck, Jimmy Vandel, Lisa Olsson, Rima Chakaroun, Viviane Gnemmi, Emmanuelle Leteurtre, Philippe Lefebvre, Joel T Haas, Hannele Yki-Järvinen, Sven Francque, Bart Staels, Carel W Le Roux, Valentina Tremaroli, Philippe Mathurin, Guillemette Marot, Stefano Romeo, François Pattou | Stefano Romeo, François Pattou | University of Lille, France | Nature Medicine | 130 | 10.1038/s41591-024-03283-1 |
| 17 | The underappreciated diversity of bile acid modifications | Ipsita Mohanty, Helena Mannochio-Russo, Joshua V Schweer, Yasin El Abiead, Wout Bittremieux, Shipei Xing, Robin Schmid, Simone Zuffa, Felipe Vasquez, Valentina B Muti, Jasmine Zemlin, Omar E Tovar-Herrera, Sarah Moraïs, Dhimant Desai, Shantu Amin, Imhoi Koo, Christoph W Turck, Itzhak Mizrahi, Penny M Kris-Etherton, Kristina S Petersen, Jennifer A Fleming, Tao Huan, Andrew D Patterson, Dionicio Siegel, Lee R Hagey, Mingxun Wang, Allegra T Aron, Pieter C Dorrestein | Pieter C. Dorrestein | University of California, San Diego, United States | Cell | 118 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.019 |
| 18 | Low-to-moderate alcohol consumption is associated with increased fibrosis in individuals with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease | David Marti-Aguado, José Luis Calleja, Eduardo Vilar-Gomez, Paula Iruzubieta, Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Duque, María Del Barrio, Laura Puchades, Jesus Rivera-Esteban, Christie Perelló, Angela Puente, Concepción Gomez-Medina, Desamparados Escudero-García, Miguel A Serra, Ramon Bataller, Javier Crespo, María Teresa Arias-Loste | Ramón Bataller, Javier Crespo | Clinic University Hospital, Spain | Journal of Hepatology | 115 | 10.1016/j.jhep.2024.06.036 |
| 19 | Semaglutide 2.4 mg in Participants With Metabolic Dysfunction‐Associated Steatohepatitis: Baseline Characteristics and Design of the Phase 3 <scp>ESSENCE</scp> Trial | Philip N Newsome, Arun J Sanyal, Kristiane A Engebretsen, Iris Kliers, Laura Østergaard, Denise Vanni, Elisabetta Bugianesi, Mary E Rinella, Michael Roden, Vlad Ratziu | Philip N. Newsome | King's College London, United Kingdom | Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics | 114 | 10.1111/apt.18331 |
| 20 | Vibration-Controlled Transient Elastography Scores to Predict Liver-Related Events in Steatotic Liver Disease | Huapeng Lin, Hye Won Lee, Terry Cheuk-Fung Yip, Emmanuel Tsochatzis, Salvatore Petta, Elisabetta Bugianesi, Masato Yoneda, Ming-Hua Zheng, Hannes Hagström, Jérôme Boursier, José Luis Calleja, George Boon-Bee Goh, Wah-Kheong Chan, Rocio Gallego-Durán, Arun J Sanyal, Victor de Lédinghen, Philip N Newsome, Jian-Gao Fan, Laurent Castéra, Michelle Lai, Stephen A Harrison, Céline Fournier-Poizat, Grace Lai-Hung Wong, Grazia Pennisi, Angelo Armandi, Atsushi Nakajima, Wen-Yue Liu, Ying Shang, Marc de Saint-Loup, Elba Llop, Kevin Kim-Jun Teh, Carmen Lara-Romero, Amon Asgharpour, Sara Mahgoub, Mandy Sau-Wai Chan, Clemence M Canivet, Manuel Romero-Gomez, Seung Up Kim, Vincent Wai-Sun Wong, VCTE-Prognosis Study Group | Seung Up Kim, Vincent Wai‐Sun Wong | The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China | JAMA | 109 | 10.1001/jama.2024.1447 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 in liver disease research is anchored by a landmark shift toward metabolic liver disorders, led by Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD). MASLD appears in 50% of the top-ranked cohort (25 papers), reflecting international consensus adoption of revised terminology over legacy non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Secondary metabolic markers including steatohepatitis (28%) and hepatic steatosis (22%) demonstrate strong co-occurrence, illustrating a concentrated focus on non-invasive diagnosis and disease staging.

Beyond metabolic dysfunction, research heavily emphasizes end-stage liver complications and oncological progression. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is featured in 20% of high-impact studies, driven by innovations in early surveillance and combination immunotherapies. Meanwhile, liver fibrosis (20%) and cirrhosis (10%) represent central clinical endpoints, with growing attention to histological staging (F2 and F3 stages).

Mechanistically, the cohort exhibits high density around metabolic regulators and therapeutic pathways. Type 2 diabetes (12%), de novo lipogenesis (10%), and GLP-1 receptor agonists (8%) reflect an expanding pharmacological paradigm linking metabolic health to hepatic outcomes. Together, these thematic clusters highlight a research trajectory focused on precision diagnosis, metabolic targeted therapies, and early risk stratification.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

The shift between the Class of 2025 and Class of 2026 reflects an active evolution in hepatology nomenclature, therapeutic targets, and diagnostic modalities. Most prominently, Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) nearly doubled in normalized frequency (from 0.26 to 0.50, a 1.92-fold increase). Conversely, legacy Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) experienced a steep decline from 0.52 to 0.24 (a 54% reduction), marking rapid community-wide adoption of updated diagnostic frameworks.

Pharmacological and mechanistic themes represent the fastest-rising research frontiers. Incretin-based therapeutics surged, led by GLP-1 receptor agonists (rising from 0.04 to 0.08) and novel GLP-1 receptor studies. Metabolic pathways such as lipid metabolism (5-fold increase to 0.10), de novo lipogenesis (2.5-fold increase), and subcutaneous drug delivery gained significant traction. Additionally, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) doubled its relative presence from 0.10 to 0.20, pointing to intensified focus on liver cancer in metabolic cohorts.

In contrast, broad descriptive terms and conventional diagnostic tools showed relative declines. FibroScan usage diminished in mention frequency (0.14 to 0.04), as studies pivoted toward novel serum biomarkers and multi-omic profiling. Broad conditions like alcohol-related liver disease and general liver fibrosis also yielded relative frequency to specific metabolic and histological sub-phenotypes.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/liver-disease-diagnosis-and-treatment/2026. Accessed 2026-07-24.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```