Race/ethnic and sex disparities in the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease-abdominal aortic calcification association: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis. 2017 Mar:258:89-96. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2016.11.021. Epub 2016 Nov 17.

Abstract

Background and aims: This study investigated the associations of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) volume and density, and whether these relationships vary by race/ethnicity and/or sex, information that are limited in current literature.

Methods: We studied 1004 adults from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis to assess the relationship between NAFLD (liver-to-spleen ratio <1) and the following measures of AAC: presence (volume score >0, using Poisson regression); change in volume score (increasing vs. no change, using Poisson regression); and morphology (volume and density score, where volume score >0, using linear regression); and interaction by race/ethnicity and sex.

Results: Among Blacks, those with NAFLD had greater prevalence for AAC compared to Whites regardless of sex (Prevalence Ratio [PR] = 1.41, CI = 1.15-1.74, p-interaction = 0.02). Concurrent interaction by race/ethnicity and sex was found comparing Chinese and Blacks to Whites (p-interaction = 0.017 and 0.042, respectively) in the association between NAFLD and the prevalence of increasing AAC. Among women, this relationship was inverse among Chinese (PR = 0.59, CI = 0.28-1.27), and positive among Whites (PR = 1.34, CI = 1.02-1.76). This finding was reversed evaluating the men counterpart. Black men also had a positive association (PR = 1.86, CI = 1.29-2.70), which differed from the inverse relationship among White men, and was greater compared to Black women (PR = 1.45, CI = 1.09-1.94). NAFLD was unrelated to AAC morphology.

Conclusions: NAFLD was related to the presence of AAC, however, limited to Blacks. Significant concurrent interaction by race/ethnicity (Chinese and Blacks vs. Whites) and sex was found in the relationship between NAFLD and increasing AAC. These findings suggest disparities in the pathophysiologic pathways in which atherosclerosis develops.

Keywords: Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC); MESA; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); Race/ethnicity; Sex.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aorta, Abdominal / diagnostic imaging
  • Aortic Diseases / diagnostic imaging
  • Aortic Diseases / ethnology*
  • Aortography / methods
  • Asian*
  • Black or African American*
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Computed Tomography Angiography
  • Disease Progression
  • Female
  • Health Status Disparities*
  • Hispanic or Latino*
  • Humans
  • Linear Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multidetector Computed Tomography
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / diagnostic imaging
  • Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / ethnology*
  • Prevalence
  • Prospective Studies
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Distribution
  • Sex Factors
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Vascular Calcification / diagnostic imaging
  • Vascular Calcification / ethnology*
  • White People*