Lean Americans With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Have Lower Rates of Cirrhosis and Comorbid Diseases

Ethan M Weinberg; Huy N Trinh; Roberto J Firpi; Kalyan Ram Bhamidimarri; Samuel Klein; Jonathan Durlam; Stephanie Watkins; K Rajender Reddy; Michael Weiss; Richard C Zink; Anna S Lok

doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2020.06.066

Lean Americans With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Have Lower Rates of Cirrhosis and Comorbid Diseases

Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021 May;19(5):996-1008.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2020.06.066. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Divsion of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
² San Jose Gastroenterology, San Jose, California.
³ Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
⁴ Division of Digestive Health & Liver Diseases, University of Miami, Miami, Florida.
⁵ Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
⁶ TARGET PharmaSolutions, Durham, North Carolina.
⁷ Gastro Florida, Clearwater, Florida.
⁸ Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Electronic address: aslok@med.umich.edu.

PMID: 32629123
DOI: 10.1016/j.cgh.2020.06.066

Abstract

Background & aims: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is typically associated with obesity. Little is known about the prevalence of cirrhosis in patients with NAFLD and a normal body mass index (BMI).

Methods: We determined prevalence of cirrhosis, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and metabolic abnormalities among participants in all BMI categories in the TARGET-NASH study. A total of 3386 patients with NAFLD were enrolled from August 2016 through March 2019. The odds ratios of cirrhosis, CVD, and metabolic abnormalities were estimated by age and race, adjusting for sex and center type.

Results: Based on standard BMI cutoff values, 12.8% of study subjects were lean, 27.1% were overweight, 26.5% had class 1 obesity, and 33.7% had class 2 or 3 obesity. Asians accounted for 48.7% of lean participants, and proportions decreased as BMI categories increased (P < .0001). Lower proportions of lean participants had cirrhosis (22.6% vs 40.2% of non-lean participants), CVD history (9.0% vs 14.8% of nonlean participants), diabetes (32.6% vs 53.5% of non-lean participants), hypertension (47.8% vs 67.4% of non-lean participants), or dyslipidemia (54.0% vs 64.1% of non-lean participants). Asian participants had a lower prevalence of cirrhosis, history of CVD, cardiovascular events, and diabetes compared with non-Asians, independent of BMI category. After we adjusted for age, sex, and center type and site, the odds of NAFLD-associated cirrhosis in Asians who were lean was almost half the odds of NAFLD-associated cirrhosis in non-Asians who were lean (odds ratio, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.29-0.77).

Conclusions: More than 10% participants in a cohort of persons with NAFLD in the United States are lean; Asians account for almost half of the lean persons with NAFLD. Lean participants had a lower prevalence of cirrhosis, CVD, and metabolic abnormalities than non-lean persons with NAFLD. Asian participants had a significantly lower prevalence of cirrhosis, CVD, and metabolic abnormalities than non-Asians in all BMI categories. ClinicalTrials.gov, Number: NCT02815891.

Keywords: Confounding Factor; Ethnicity; Fibrosis; Risk Factor.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Diabetes Mellitus*
Humans
Liver Cirrhosis / epidemiology
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease* / epidemiology
Obesity / complications
Obesity / epidemiology
Overweight
Prevalence
Risk Factors
United States / epidemiology

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT02815891