Highlights
- •Fatty liver has to be considered the expression of a metabolic systemic disease.
- •HSI, FLI, LAP and Serum Uric Acid might be predictors of AS in healthy subjects.
- •Indirect indexes of fatty liver can be useful tools for cardiovascular assessment.
Abstract
Background
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is associated to increased risk of cardiovascular
disease. Our aim was to evaluate association of indexes of fatty liver with arterial
stiffness (AS).
Methods
We analyzed data of adult volunteers visited during the last Brisighella survey. We
evaluated the Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) and the following non-invasive indexes of
liver steatosis: Fatty Liver Index (FLI), Lipid Accumulation Product (LAP), Hepatic
Steatosis Index (HSI). We compared patients according to the risk of Non-Alcoholic
Steatohepatitis (NASH): low-risk (BMI < 28 and no diabetes), intermediate-risk (BMI ≥ 28
or diabetes), high-risk (BMI ≥ 28 and diabetes). Multiple Linear Regression analysis
was assessed for predictors of AS.
Results
We studied 1731 volunteers. In subjects with low metabolic risk, HSI (RR = 0.138,
95%CI 0.105–0.170, p < 0.001), FLI (RR = 0.024, 95%CI 0.016–0.032, p < 0.001), LAP (RR = 0.014, 95%CI
0.008–0.020, p < 0.001) and Serum Uric Acid (RR = 0.150, 95%CI 0.024–0.275, p = 0.019) were significant predictors of AS. HSI and FLI emerged as predictors of
PWV in intermediate risk group (RR = 0.116, 95%CI 0.071–0.160, p < 0.001; RR = 0.010, 95%CI 0.001–0.020, p = 0.041). In volunteers with high risk, FLI and Uric Acid were related to PWV (RR = 0.049,
95%CI 0.011–0.087, p = 0.013; RR = 0.632, 95% CI 0.222–1.041, p = 0.003).
Conclusion
Fatty liver indirect indexes were associated to AS in subjects with different metabolic
risk profiles.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 24, 2018
Accepted:
March 19,
2018
Received in revised form:
February 6,
2018
Received:
September 11,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
