Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease represents a greater metabolic burden in patients with atherosclerosis: A cross-sectional study

How nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is linked to atherosclerosis is still disputed. This study aimed to explore the association between NAFLD and atherosclerosis among adults in Shandong province, China. A total of 6849 individuals were enrolled in the final analyses for a community-based study. The relationship between NAFLD and atherosclerosis was evaluated after adjusting for common confounding factors. Hypertension, diabetes, and higher serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) level were positively correlated with NAFLD. An odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) of 1.325 (range 1.157–1.518) for hypertension, 2.153 (range 1.814–2.555) for diabetes, and 1.161 (range 1.071–1.259) for LDL-c was noticed. These factors also were positively correlated with atherosclerosis, with an OR (95% CI) of 1.501 (range 1.286–1.751) for hypertension, 1.716 (range 1.414–2.084) for diabetes, and 1.344 (range 1.231–1.466) for LDL-c. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher in the atherosclerosis+NAFLD group (81.8%) when compared with the NAFLD-only (30.3%), atherosclerosis-only (32.2%), and control (20.3%) groups (P <.01). NAFLD and atherosclerosis have common metabolic characteristics, such as hypertension, diabetes, and higher serum LDL-c level. Patients with NAFLD in combination with atherosclerosis were found to have a more severe metabolic burden and greater chances of having hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and higher metabolic syndrome scores than those in the other groups.