Hepatic inflammation scores correlate with common carotid intima-media thickness in rats with NAFLD induced by a high-fat diet

Background Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an emerging public health problem, may be a highly atherogenic condition. But the relationship between fatty liver diseases and carotid atherosclerosis in small-animal is incompletely understood. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in NAFLD rats using high-frequency ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, and to ascertain if the degree of hepatic pathological changes was associated with carotid IMT.