New Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Fibrosis Progression Associate With the Risk of Incident Chronic Kidney Disease

Abstract

Context: Little is known about the link between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) evolution and incident chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Objective: We aim to assess the associations of NALFD status changes and NAFLD fibrosis progression with the risk of incident CKD.

Methods: We conducted a community-based prospective study that included participants aged 40 years or older and free of CKD at baseline in 2010, with follow-up evaluations after a mean of 4.4 years. NAFLD was diagnosed by ultrasonography and NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) was used to evaluate fibrosis stage and progression. CKD was defined by estimated glomerular filtration rate or urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio. All the measurements were performed at baseline and follow-up examination.

Results: Among 4042 participants with 4 NAFLD status change groups, incident NAFLD was associated with an increased risk of incident CKD (odds ratio [OR] = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.003-2.06; P = 0.048) compared with non-NAFLD after adjustments for the confounders, including evolution of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, in addition to the baseline levels. However, the risk of incident CKD was not significantly different between NAFLD resolution and persistent NAFLD. Among 534 participants in the persistent NAFLD group, fibrosis progression from low NFS to intermediate or high NFS was associated with a significantly increased risk of incident CKD compared with stable fibrosis in low NFS (OR = 2.82; 95% CI, 1.22-6.56; P = 0.016).

Conclusion: NAFLD development and fibrosis progression are associated with increased risk of incident CKD.

Keywords: hepatic fibrosis; incident chronic kidney disease; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; status change.