Association of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Metabolic Syndrome with non-alcoholic and alcoholic fatty liver disease: a retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND: Although many studies on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are underway worldwide, and several existing studies have investigated the association between NAFLD and cardiovascular risk factors, studies comparing NAFLD and alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate differences between the incidence of cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome in NAFLD and AFLD. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 913 patients who underwent abdominal computed tomography (CT) was performed to compare the incidence of cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome between NAFLD and AFLD. Subjects were divided into three groups based on criteria: healthy (n = 572), NAFLD (n = 295), and AFLD (n = 46). The healthy group had no liver disease. NAFLD was defined as fatty liver diagnosed on CT and drinking less than 140 g/week for men or 70 g/week for women. AFLD was defined as fatty liver diagnosed on CT and drinking more than 140 g/week for men or 70 g/week for women. We compared the incidence of cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome between the three groups. The relationship between each group and the metabolic syndrome risk was analyzed through multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: No significant differences in several cardiovascular risk factors were observed between the NAFLD and AFLD groups. Upon analyzing the metabolic syndrome status in each group after making appropriate adjustments, the odds ratios (ORs) in the NAFLD (OR = 2.397, P = 0.002) and AFLD groups (OR = 4.445, P = 0.001) were found to be significantly higher than that in the healthy group; the incidence rate of metabolic syndrome was similar in the NAFLD and AFLD groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both the NAFLD and AFLD groups had more cardiovascular risk factors and higher metabolic syndrome risk than the healthy group. Thus, the prevention of fatty liver disease, regardless of the specific type, should involve the identification of cardiovascular and metabolic syndrome risk factors. If abdominal CT reveals a fatty liver, whether NAFLD or AFLD, the risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome should be assessed. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12902-021-00758-x.