Gut Liver.  2019 Nov;13(6):658-668. 10.5009/gnl18439.

Noninvasive Serum Fibrosis Markers are Associated with Coronary Artery Calcification in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

• Song DS
• Chang UI
• Kang SG
• Song SW
• Yang JM

• KMID: 2464313
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5009/gnl18439

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Advanced hepatic fibrosis is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We investigated the association between noninvasive serum fibrosis markers and the coronary artery calcium score (CACS) in subjects with NAFLD.
METHODS
We analyzed 665 NAFLD subjects without chronic liver disease or heart disease between 2011 and 2015. The noninvasive fibrosis markers that were used to evaluate the severity of hepatic fibrosis included the NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS), fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score, Forn's index, and the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI).
RESULTS
The areas under the receiver operating characteristics curves for the NFS, FIB-4 score, Forn's index and APRI for predicting CACS >100 were 0.689, 0.683, 0.659, and 0.595, respectively. According to the multivariate analysis, older age, increased body mass index (BMI), and decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were significant factors associated with CACS >100. The NFS, FIB-4 score and APRI were significantly associated with CACS >100 after adjusting for age and gender (p=0.006, p=0.012, and p=0.012, respectively) and after adjusting for age, gender, BMI and eGFR (p=0.013, p=0.022, and p=0.027, respectively). Scores integrating noninvasive fibrosis markers and other risk factors improved the predictive accuracy.
CONCLUSIONS
The NFS and FIB-4 score were associated with coronary atherosclerosis in subjects with NAFLD. Furthermore, scores integrating these noninvasive scores and risk factors for CVD showed good discriminatory power in predicting CACS >100. Therefore, noninvasive serum fibrosis markers may be useful tools for identifying NAFLD subjects at a high risk for CVD.

Keyword

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Coronary artery calcium score; Liver fibrosis marker

MeSH Terms

Aspartate Aminotransferases
Blood Platelets
Body Mass Index
Calcium
Cardiovascular Diseases
Coronary Artery Disease
Coronary Vessels*
Fibrosis*
Glomerular Filtration Rate
Heart Diseases
Humans
Liver Diseases
Multivariate Analysis
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease*
Risk Factors
ROC Curve
Aspartate Aminotransferases
Calcium