Association between metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and pulmonary function: a population-based and two-sample mendelian randomization study

• Published in: BMC pulmonary medicine 2024-07, Vol.24 (1), p.368-10, Article 368
• Main Authors: Feng, Ting, Li, Jiaming, Wu, Lihao, He, Xingxiang, Ye, Junzhao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analysis; Asthma; Asthma - epidemiology; Asthma - genetics; Asthma - physiopathology; Blood tests; Body mass index; Care and treatment; Cholesterol; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Complications and side effects; Demographics; Diabetes; Epidemiology; Fatty liver; Fatty Liver - genetics; Fatty Liver - physiopathology; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume; Genome-wide association studies; Genome-Wide Association Study; Genomes; Genomic analysis; Genomics; Glucose; Health aspects; High density lipoprotein; Hospitals; Humans; Insulin resistance; Liver diseases; Lung - physiopathology; Lung diseases; Male; MASLD; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mendelian randomization; Mendelian Randomization Analysis; Metabolic diseases; Metabolism; Middle Aged; NHANES; Nutrition Surveys; Oxidative stress; Population studies; Prevention; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - epidemiology; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - genetics; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - physiopathology; Pulmonary fuction; Pulmonary function tests; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory function; Respiratory Function Tests; Risk Factors; Sleep apnea; Software; Spirometry; Steatosis; Surveys; Type 2 diabetes; Variables; Vital Capacity
• ISSN: 1471-2466; 1471-2466
• DOI: 10.1186/s12890-024-03182-8

Hepatic steatosis and its related complications are risk factors for multiple respiratory diseases; however, the causal relationship between metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and pulmonary function remains controversial. We aimed to identify it using a national cohort and Mendelian randomization (MR). We enrolled 30,442 participants from the 2007 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Demographics, pulmonary function indices (forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV1], forced vital capacity [FVC]), and variables used to calculate the liver fat score (LFS) were collected. A two-sample MR analysis employing the summary data of genome-wide association studies on MASLD and FEV1/FVC, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and asthma from the Finngen Biobank and Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit was performed. A total of 3,462 participants, 1,335 of whom had MASLD (LFS > -0.640), were finally included in the study. The FEV1 (3,204.7 vs. 3,262.5 ml, P = 0.061), FVC (4,089.1 vs. 4,143.8 ml, P = 0.146), FEV1/FVC ratio (78.5% vs. 78.8%, P = 0.233), and FEV1/predicted FEV1 ratio (146.5% vs. 141.7%, P = 0.366) were not significantly different between people with MASLD and those without. Additionally, the MR analysis suggested no causal correlation between MASLD and FEV1/FVC (P = 0.817), MASLD and COPD (P = 0.407), and MASLD and asthma (P = 0.808). Reverse MR studies showed no causal relationships yet (all P > 0.05). Our study provides convincing evidence that there is no causal association between MASLD and pulmonary function.