6 Hepatology Headlines You Missed in October 2025

October 2025 saw several notable developments in hepatology, from a new episode of HCPLive’s Liver Lineup: Updates & Unfiltered Insights to new data on MASH risk and treatment as well as hepatic news from the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)’s 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting.

In addition to Liver Lineup’s latest episode on the rising prevalence, new care models, and evolving concepts in alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) with guest Jessica Mellinger, MD, the field also gained new research linking sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverages to MASLD risk and data from a prespecified analysis of the phase 3 MAESTRO-NASH trial of resmetirom stratified by background SGLT2i or GLP-1 RA treatment.

Hepatology was also at the forefront of the ACG 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting in the form of new data comparing the cost effectiveness of seladelpar and elafibranor for the second-line treatment of PBC, new data on seladelpar’s impact on pruritus, and the potential of a novel AI tool to assist the detection of advanced fibrosis and prediction of hepatic decompensation in MASLD.

Check out this October 2025 hepatology month in review for a recap of HCPLive’s coverage of the top hepatic news and research from the past few weeks:

Discussing Evolutions in ALD on Liver Lineup

Liver Lineup: Unmet Needs and Evolving Standards in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease, With Jessica Mellinger, MD

On the latest episode of Liver Lineup, hosts Nancy Reau, MD, and Kimberly Brown, MD, welcome guest Jessica Mellinger, MD, as they discuss current shortcomings in ALD diagnosis and care, the importance of addressing underlying alcohol use disorder, and the field’s evolving understanding of the overlap between metabolic and alcohol-associated liver disease.

New Data on MASH/MASLD Risk and Treatment

Sugar-, Artificially-Sweetened Beverages Both Linked to Increased MASLD Risk

Recent research is shedding light on a heightened risk of MASLD with high intake of both sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and low- or non-sugar-sweetened beverages (LNSSBs), additionally highlighting an increased risk of liver-related mortality with high LNSSB consumption. The research, presented at United European Gastroenterology Week 2025, assessed data for > 100,000 UK Biobank participants and found intake of > 330 g per day of both LNSSBs and SSBs were linked to elevated MASLD risk, supporting the limitation of both beverages as part of a comprehensive prevention strategy targeting both liver disease and cardio-renal-metabolic health.

Resmetirom Maintains Efficacy for MASH Irrespective of GLP-1 RA, SGLT2i Use

Findings from a prespecified analysis of the phase 3 MAESTRO-NASH trial highlight the effects of resmetirom 80 or 100 mg or placebo in patients with type 2 diabetes with a background of stable GLP-1 baseline therapy or SGLT2i therapy and the effect of ≥ 5% weight loss on liver histology endpoints. Data showed rates of MASH resolution and fibrosis improvement were comparable between those who were treated with GLP-1 RA and SGLT2i and resmetirom and those who received resmetirom alone.

Of note, small amounts of weight loss were found to enhance the effects of resmetirom on MASH resolution, liver fibrosis improvement, and noninvasive tests of efficacy, suggesting a potential complementary mechanism to increase response rates to resmetirom treatment.

HCPLive at ACG 2025

Elafibranor More Cost-Effective Than Seladelpar for Second-Line PBC Treatment

Data presented at ACG 2025 are providing clinicians with an overview of the comparative health benefits and associated costs of second-line treatment with elafibranor versus seladelpar in patients with PBC, with study findings suggesting elafibranor provides greater health benefit at a lower cost than seladelpar and should therefore be the preferred second line pharmacologic therapy for PBC.

Seladelpar’s Impact on Pruritus in Primary Biliary Cholangitis, With Marlyn Mayo, MD

As new therapies emerge, the treatment landscape for PBC is undergoing rapid change, offering clinicians and patients renewed hope for both disease control and symptom relief. Against this backdrop, new data on the selective PPAR-delta agonist seladelpar presented at the ACG 2025 by Marlyn Mayo, MD, provide important insight into how modern therapies can address not only biochemical response but also the persistent challenge of itch in PBC based on a pooled analysis of RESPONSE and ENHANCE trial data of seladelpar.

Using AI to Improve Risk Stratification, Disease Management in MASLD, With Basile Njei, MD, PhD, MPH

Findings from a study presented at ACG 2025 suggest use of a novel large language model-based tool, Fibro-GPT, may offer a promising approach to detecting advanced fibrosis and predicting hepatic decompensation in MASLD, highlighting its superior performance, interpretability, and potential cost savings in the context of MASLD care.