Epidemiol Health.  2021;43(1):e2021001. 10.4178/epih.e2021001.

Renal hyperfiltration, fatty liver index, and the hazards of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in Finnish men

• Ould Setti M
• Voutilainen A
• Tuomainen TP

• KMID: 2514961
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2021001

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Renal hyperfiltration (RHF) and fatty liver are separately associated with adverse health outcomes. In this study, we investigated the mortality hazard of coexisting RHF and fatty liver.
METHODS
Middle-aged men from the Kuopio Ischaemic Disease Risk Factor Study (n=1,552) were followed up for a median of 29 years. Associations among RHF, fatty liver index (FLI) score, age, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and hypertension status were assessed using logistic regression. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality with respect to RHF and fatty liver.
RESULTS
Of the men, 5% had RHF (n=73), whereas a majority had fatty liver (n=848). RHF was associated specifically with smoking, and fatty liver was associated specifically with overweight. The all-cause mortality hazard was highest (HR, 1.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27 to 3.01) among men with RHF and fatty liver (n=33). Among men with RHF but normal FLI (n=40), the HR of all-cause mortality was 1.67 (95% CI, 1.15 to 2.42). Among men with fatty liver but a normal estimated glomerular filtration rate (n=527), the HR of all-cause mortality was 1.35 (95% CI, 1.09 to 1.66). CVD mortality hazard was associated with RHF, but not fatty liver. We detected no interaction effect between RHF and fatty liver for all-cause (synergy index, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.21 to 2.67) or CVD (synergy index, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.34 to 2.60) mortality.
CONCLUSIONS
RHF and fatty liver are independently associated with all-cause and CVD mortality

Keyword

Mortality; Cardiovascular diseases; Heart disease risk factors; Glomerular filtration rate; Fatty liver; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease