Cardiovascular Disease and NASH
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a predominant cause of chronic liver disease in many countries. Excess body weight predisposes individuals to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and NAFLD.
NAFLD and cardiovascular disease is obesity related MetS and it is increasing virtually in
all age groups worldwide.1 Approximately 10-30% have the potentially progressive form of
NAFLD to Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is associated with hepatocellular injury, inflammation and ultimately resulting in cirrhosis in 20-30%
A population-based study of 980 NAFLD patients and 6,594 controls followed long
term (mean: 8.7 years) showed that NAFLD patients had significantly increased all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality, especially in the 45-54 years age group.5
Another study
that linked NHANES III participants to follow-up mortality data showed that cardiovascular
disease was the leading cause of death in patients with NAFLD.
Several evidences support the association of NAFLD/NASH and the occurrence of
cardiovascular events, such as increased carotid intima-media thickness, increased coronary
artery calcification, impaired flow-mediated vasodilatation and arterial stiffness independent of
traditional risk factors and MetS.
The finding that NAFLD is associated with an increased risk of Atrial Fibrillation
(AF) in people without evidence of co-existing valvular heart disease supports the assertion
that NAFLD may also be an emerging risk factor for cardiac arrhythmias.10,11 Another marker
of early coronary atherosclerosis is association of NAFLD and increased Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) score on cardiac Computed Tomography (CT).
Liver Res Open J. 2015; 1(2): 41-44. doi: 10.17140/LROJ-1-107
