J Obes Metab Syndr.
2024 Jun;33(2):143-154. 10.7570/jomes23072.
Muscle Quality as a Potential Diagnostic Marker of Advanced Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Affiliations
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- 1Division of Laboratory Medicine, Tsukuba University Hospital, Tsukuba, Japan
- 2Faculty of Rehabilitation, R Professional University of Rehabilitation, Tsuchiura, Japan
- 3Future Convergence Research Institute, Changwon National University, Changwon, Korea
- 4Faculty of Sports and Health Science, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan
- 5Department of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
- 6Faculty of Human Care, Teikyo Heisei University, Tokyo, Japan
- KMID: 2557465
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.7570/jomes23072
Abstract
- Background
Muscle–liver crosstalk plays an important role in the development and progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The measurement of muscle echo-intensity during ultrasonography is a realtime, non-invasive method of assessing muscle quality. In this retrospective study, we investigated the significance of poor muscle quality (namely, a greater mass of non-contractile tissue, including intramuscular fat) as a risk factor for advanced liver fibrosis and considered whether it may represent a useful tool for the diagnosis of advanced liver fibrosis.
Methods
We analyzed data from 307 patients with NAFLD (143 men and 164 women) who visited the University of Tsukuba Hospital between 2017 and 2022. The patients were stratified into the following tertiles of muscle quality according to their muscle echo-intensity on ultrasonography: modest (84.1 arbitrary units [A.U.]), intermediate (97.4 A.U.), and poor (113.6 A.U.). We then investigated the relationships between muscle quality and risk factors for advanced liver fibrosis and calculated appropriate cutoff values.
Results
Patients with poor muscle quality showed a significant, 7.6-fold greater risk of liver fibrosis compared to those with modest muscle quality. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that muscle quality assessment was as accurate as the fibrosis-4 index and NAFLD fibrosis score in screening for liver fibrosis and superior to the assessment of muscle quantity and strength, respectively. Importantly, a muscle echo-intensity of ≥92.4 A.U. may represent a useful marker of advanced liver fibrosis.
Conclusion
Muscle quality may represent a useful means of identifying advanced liver fibrosis, and its assessment may become a useful screening tool in daily practice.
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