Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease Predicts Long-term Mortality and Cardiovascular Disease
- Author:
Joon Ho MOON
1
;
Won KIM
;
Bo Kyung KOO
;
Nam H. CHO
;
On behalf of the Innovative Target Exploration of NAFLD (ITEN) consortium
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- From:Gut and Liver 2022;16(3):433-442
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Background/aims:We investigated the effect of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) on future mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) using a prospective community-based cohort study.
Methods:Individuals from two community-based cohorts who were 40 to 70 years old were prospectively followed for 16 years. MAFLD was defined as a high fatty liver index (FLI ≥60) plus one of the following conditions: overweight/obesity (body mass index ≥23 kg/m2), type 2 diabetes mellitus, or ≥2 metabolic risk abnormalities. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was defined as FLI ≥60 without any secondary cause of hepatic steatosis.
Results:Among 8,919 subjects (age 52.2±8.9 years, 47.7% of males), 1,509 (16.9%) had MAFLD. During the median follow-up of 15.7 years, MAFLD independently predicted overall mortality after adjustment for confounders (hazard ratio [HR], 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 1.69) but NAFLD did not (HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.94 to 1.53). MAFLD also predicted CVD after adjustment for age, sex, and body mass index (HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.62), which lost its statistical significance by further adjustments. Stratified analysis indicated that metabolic dysfunction contributed to mortality (HR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.21 to 1.89) and CVD (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.59). Among metabolic dysfunctions used for defining MAFLD, type 2 diabetes mellitus in MAFLD increased the risk of both mortality (HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.52 to 2.81) and CVD (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.85).
Conclusions:MAFLD independently increased overall mortality. Heterogeneity in mortality and CVD risk of subjects with MAFLD may be determined by the accompanying metabolic dysfunctions.
