Changes in inflammatory factors and prognosis of patients complicated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting

This study was designed to assess the relationship between changes in peripheral inflammatory factors of patients complicated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) before and after operation, and their prognosis. A total of 68 patients with stable angina pectoris treated in Xinjiang Hospital who underwent CABG at some point between August of 2013 and August of 2015 were enrolled in the study, and divided into the NAFLD group (n=31) and the non-NAFLD group (n=37) according to the presence of the condition or its absence. Peripheral blood was drawn from the patients before and at 24 h and 1 month after the operation, and the expression levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were measured via standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results showed the expression levels of hsCRP and sCD40L of patients in both groups reached a peak 24 h after operation; and there were statistically significant changes compared with the levels before the operation and at 1 month after operation (p<0.01). However, there were no statistically significant differences in the expression levels between the two groups (p>0.05). The expression levels of ICAM-1 at each time-point in both groups were increased after the operation, but the changes were not statistically significant (p>0.05). The expression levels of MMP-9 increased after the operation, and the levels at 1 month after operation were significantly higher than those before operation and at 24 h after the operation (p<0.01). Importantly, the expression levels of MMP-9 of patients in the NAFLD group at 1 month after operation were significantly higher than those of patients in the non-NAFLD group at the same time, and the differences were statistically significant (p<0.01). Finally, logistic regression analysis showed that the expression level of MMP-9 was an important influencing factor for cardiovascular events after CABG (OR=1.182, p<0.05). Based on our findings, the expression levels of inflammatory factors in peripheral blood in patients complicated with NAFLD undergoing CABG differ from those who are not complicated, and the MMP-9 levels may be closely related to the prognosis of patients complicated with NAFLD.