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ISSN 2097-3497 (Online)
CN 22-1108/R
Volume 42 Issue 2
Feb.  2026
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Article Navigation >  Journal of Clinical Hepatology  > 2026  >  42(2): 286-292

Current status of research on pre-acute-on-chronic liver failure

DOI: 10.12449/JCH260206

  • Fourth Department of Liver Disease，Beijing YouAn Hospital，Capital Medical University，Beijing 100069，China

Research funding:

Capital’s Funds for Health Improvement and Research (CFH2024-1-2181);

Construction Project of High-level Technology Talents in Public Health (Discipline leader-01-12);

Beijing Hospitals Authority’s Ascent Plan (DFL20221501);

National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFC2304402)

More Information
  • Corresponding author: CHEN Yu， chybeyond1071@ccmu.edu.cn （ORCID： 0000-0003-1906-7486）
  • Received Date: 2025-11-11
  • Accepted Date: 2026-01-07
  • Published Date: 2026-02-25
    Abstract
  • Acute-on-chronic liver failure （ACLF） is a syndrome with high mortality triggered by acute predisposing factors in patients with underlying chronic liver diseases. Clinical studies have shown that ACLF can be reversed to a certain degree， and early intervention can improve patient prognosis， whereas delayed diagnosis and treatment can lead to a significant increase in mortality. In recent years， scholars in this field have proposed the concept of “pre-acute-on-chronic liver failure （Pre-ACLF）”， which aims to improve clinical outcomes through early identification and intervention. This article systematically reviews the origin of the Pre-ACLF concept and its latest definitions in China and globally， summarizes the latest research advances in Pre-ACLF in terms of traditional clinical-laboratory parameters， high-throughput omics， and molecular biological mechanisms， and proposes the important clinical need for further unifying the definition of Pre-ACLF.

     

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