Cholesterol efflux capacity is impaired in subjects with an elevated Fatty Liver Index, a proxy of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

2018 
Abstract Background and aims Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) parallels the obesity epidemic and associates with components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) represents a key metric of high density lipoprotein (HDL) function which may predict atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here we assessed the relationship of CEC with NAFLD. Methods CEC was determined from THP-1 macrophage foam cells towards apolipoprotein B-depleted plasma among 639 subjects (454 men; 36 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D); 226 with MetS), participating in the Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-Stage Disease (PREVEND) study. A Fatty Liver Index (FLI) ≥ 60 was used as a proxy of NAFLD. Results 372 participants had a FLI ≥60, which coincided with an increased prevalence of T2D and MetS ( p  = 0.009 and p p p  = 0.043), and alternatively when taking account of systolic blood pressure, waist/hip ratio, glucose, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and hsCRP (fully adjusted model: β = −0.103, p  = 0.034). Conclusions Impaired CEC is associated with NAFLD, as inferred from a FLI≥60, even when taking account of lower HDL cholesterol and enhanced low-grade chronic inflammation. Reduced CEC could contribute to accelerated CVD in NAFLD patients.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    45
    References
    14
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []