Plasma inflammatory proteome profiles identify MASLD among children with overweight or obesity
Authors' conclusion
A proteomic signature of systemic inflammation provides accurate, non-invasive identification of MASLD in at-risk children, outperforming conventional metabolic and genetic tools, and may have utility in clinical and public health settings.
Study context
- Population
- Children (median age 8.5 years) with overweight or obesity; MASLD assessed by vibration-controlled transient elastography, 42 cases42 MASLD cases
- Participants
- 161 children
- Comparison
- Six-protein ProScore vs 11 conventional anthropometric/metabolic indices and a genetic risk score (GRS)
- Outcome
- Diagnostic performance for MASLD (AUC)
Methodological detailscross-sectional, machine learning (six algorithms), fivefold cross-validation, school-based validation
- Cross-sectional
- Machine learning (six algorithms)
- Fivefold cross-validation
- School-based validation
Performance
As reported in the abstract
Diagnostic accuracy for MASLD (AUC)
| Test or model | AUC |
|---|---|
| ProScore | 0.84 |
| Conventional indices | 0.65-0.78 |
AUC
ProScore0.84
Conventional indices0.65-0.78
- ProScore vs Conventional indices: all P < 0.05 — ProScore AUC exceeded all conventional indices
- Proteins significantly associated with MASLD
- 15
Further findings
| Outcome | P value |
|---|---|
| ProScore accuracy by GRS subgroupLower GRS vs Higher GRS · accuracy higher with lower GRS | P = 0.003 |
- ProScore in school-based validation
- 0.83 · AUC
- ProScore accuracy by GRS subgroup: Lower GRS AUC 0.92
- ProScore accuracy by GRS subgroup: Higher GRS AUC 0.80
ProScore in school-based validation
- No substantial improvement when combined with conventional indices
Original publication
Plasma inflammatory proteome profiles identify MASLD among children with overweight or obesity. Cardiovasc Diabetol. Published 27 November 2025. doi:10.
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