Ideal Cardiovascular Health Metrics Are Associated with Reduced Severity of Hepatic Steatosis and Liver Fibrosis Detected by Transient Elastography

• Published in: Nutrients 2022-12, Vol.14 (24), p.5344
• Main Authors: Fan, Heze, Xu, Chenbo, Li, Wenyuan, Huang, Yuzhi, Hua, Rui, Xiong, Ying, Yang, Yuxuan, Feng, Xueying, Wang, Zihao, Yuan, Zuyi, Zhou, Juan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Angina pectoris; Biomarkers; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Cardiovascular disease; cardiovascular health metrics; Cholesterol; Cirrhosis; controlled attenuation parameter; Cross-Sectional Studies; Elasticity Imaging Techniques; Fatty acids; Fatty liver; Fibrosis; Health; Health care; healthy lifestyle; Humans; Lifestyles; Liver; Liver cirrhosis; Liver Cirrhosis - diagnostic imaging; Liver diseases; liver stiffness measurement; Metabolism; Multivariate analysis; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - diagnostic imaging; Nutrition; Nutrition Surveys; Quality Indicators, Health Care; Regression analysis; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Smoking; Steatosis; Stiffness; Subgroups; Surveys; Ultrasonic imaging; United States - epidemiology
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu14245344

Life's Simple 7 (LS7) is the American Heart Association's (AHA) proposal for a healthy lifestyle, also known as cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics. However, the association between CVH metrics and the severity of hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis detected by transient elastography is unknown. We performed a cross-sectional study using the data from the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycle. The controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) were used to evaluate the severity of hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis and to define NAFLD, advanced liver fibrosis, and cirrhosis. A total of 2679 participants were included. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that per 1-unit increase in the CVH metric, CAP and LSM decreased by 8.565 units and 0.274 units, respectively. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the risk of NAFLD, advanced liver fibrosis, and cirrhosis were 7, 10, and 6 times higher in the poor CVH group than in the ideal CVH group. Subgroup analysis indicated that CVD patients and non-Hispanic whites could benefit more from ideal CVH. In conclusion, adherence to ideal CVH metrics, as proposed by the AHA, can significantly reduce the risk of hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis.