Abstract
The prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is rapidly rising. We aimed to investigate associations of diet quality and dietary patterns with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Black and White adults. We included 1726 participants who attended the Year 20 Exam of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study and had their liver attenuation (LA) measured using computed tomography at Year 25 (2010–2011). NAFLD was defined as an LA of ≤51 Hounsfield units after the exclusion of other causes of liver fat. The a priori diet-quality score (APDQS) was used to assess diet quality, and dietary patterns were derived from principal components analysis. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between the APDQS, dietary patterns, and NAFLD, and were adjusted for Year 20 covariates. NAFLD prevalence at Year 25 was 23.6%. In a model adjusted for age, race, sex, education, alcohol use, physical activity, smoking, and center at Year 25, the APDQS was inversely associated (p = 0.004) and meat dietary pattern was positively associated (p < 0.0001) with NAFLD, while the fruit-vegetable dietary pattern was not significantly associated (p = 0.40). These associations remained significant when additionally adjusting for comorbidities (type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension), however, significant associations were diminished after additionally adjusting for body mass index (BMI). Overall, this study finds that the APDQS and meat dietary patterns are associated with prevalent NAFLD in mid-life. The associations appear to be partially mediated through higher BMI.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 854 |
| Journal | Nutrients |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 1 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research received no external funding. M.G is supported, in part, by the National Institute of Health RO1DK121378. She also receives consulting fees from Intercept Pharmaceuticals and Theratechnologies, Inc. This work was independent of the funding listed. L.V. is supported, in part, by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute K23HL136891. In addition, she holds research grants from W.L. Gore & Associates, Intercept pharmaceuticals and AMRA Medical and is an expert witness for the Expert Institute outside the submitted work. This work was independent of the funding listed. J.S. is supported as the Principal Investigator of the CARDIA Coordinating Center contract at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA) is conducted and supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (HHSN268201800005I & HHSN268201800007I), Northwestern University (HHSN268201800003I), University of Minnesota (HHSN268201800006I), and Kaiser Foundation Research Institute (HHSN268201800004I). This manuscript has been reviewed by CARDIA for scientific content.
Funding Information:
Funding: This research received no external funding. M.G is supported, in part, by the National Institute of Health RO1DK121378. She also receives consulting fees from Intercept Pharmaceuticals and Theratechnologies, Inc. This work was independent of the funding listed. L.V. is supported, in part, by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute K23HL136891. In addition, she holds research grants from W.L. Gore & Associates, Intercept pharmaceuticals and AMRA Medical and is an expert witness for the Expert Institute outside the submitted work. This work was independent of the funding listed. J.S. is supported as the Principal Investigator of the CARDIA Coordinating Center contract at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Diet quality
- Dietary pattern
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
