Severe Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease linked to hypertension

The risk of hypertension is higher in adults with severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, according to a recent study published in Clinical and Experimental Gastroenterology. The prevalence of severe NAFLD in adults with hypertension and obesity is 68.9%, researchers recently reported in this study. The lead researcher of this study Hypertension and Histopathology Severity of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Among Adults with Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study is Dr. Diego Chambergo-Michilot.

Cardiovascular diseases are responsible for most deaths due to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), associated with hypertension, a crucial predictor of severe liver outcomes, and an indicator of nonspecific portal fibrosis. The present study aimed to determine the association between hypertension and NAFLD severity using secondary data analysis from Peruvian adults with obesity and NAFLD (Peruvian bariatric centre).

The Fatty Liver Inhibition of Progression algorithm and the Steatosis, Activity and Fibrosis score were used to assess the severity of NAFLD. At the same time, hypertension was determined by either being recorded in medical records or having a systolic pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic pressure ≥ 90 mmHg.

Some of the important points of the study summary are:

• The study had 234 participants.
• The prevalence of hypertension and severe NAFLD was 19.2% and 46.2%, respectively.
• The prevalence of hypertension was higher in the severe NAFLD group than in the non-severe group.
• When stratified by the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS), the association remained significant only in the group without MetS.
• In our study, they said we found an association between hypertension and severe NAFLD in adults with obesity, particularly in those without MetS.
  

Antihypertensives may reduce the fibrosis degree in the liver. They added that we did not collect the information about drug use, frequency and dose.

Limitations included study in a single-centre in a Latin American country, statistical limitations, etc.

This study was self-funded, they acknowledged.

Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37601009/