Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Is Associated... : Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, & Vascular Biology (original) (raw)

Clinical and Population Studies

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Is Associated With Atherosclerosis in Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese

Yun Huang
Yufang Bi
Min Xu
Zhimin Ma
Yu Xu
Tiange Wang
Mian Li
Yu Liu
Jieli Lu
Yuhong Chen
Fei Huang
Baihui Xu
Jie Zhang
Weiqing Wang
Xiaoying Li
Guang Ning

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, & Vascular Biology

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2321

2326

September 2012

| DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.112.252957

Objective—

To evaluate the associations between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and atherosclerosis.

Methods and Results—

A total of 8632 participants aged ≥40 years from Jiading district, Shanghai, were included in the present study. The presence of NAFLD was evaluated by ultrasonography. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) were measured in each participant. The prevalence of NAFLD was 30.0% in the total population, with 30.3% in men and 29.9% in women, respectively. Subjects with NAFLD had remarkably higher CIMT and ba-PWV compared with those without NAFLD (0.594±0.105 mm versus 0.578±0.109 mm, P<0.0001; 1665±424 cm/s versus 1558±430 cm/s, P<0.0001). Subjects with both NAFLD and metabolic syndrome had significantly higher CIMT and ba-PWV compared with those with neither or either of these 2 diseases after adjustment for age and sex (all P<0.05). Logistic regressions also revealed that NAFLD conferred 35% and 30% increased odds ratios of elevated CIMT and ba-PWV, independent of conventional risk factors and the presence of metabolic syndrome.

Conclusion—

NAFLD was associated with elevated CIMT and ba-PWV, independent of conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors and metabolic syndrome. The effects of NAFLD and metabolic syndrome on atherosclerosis might not fully overlap.