Korean J Fam Pract.  2020 Apr;10(2):110-115. 10.21215/kjfp.2020.10.2.110.

The Association between Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Fibrosis Score and Serum Low Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol Levels in Adults with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

• Park SB
• Choi HJ
• Doo SH
• Jung D
• Shim YN
• Oh HJ

• KMID: 2502318
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2020.10.2.110

Abstract

Background
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score (NFS) is a scoring system applied in clinical practice to predict advanced fibrosis in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Evidence shows that progression of steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis reduces the production of verylow- density lipoprotein. The aim of this study was to identify the association of NFS and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and in adults with NAFLD.
Methods
Data were gathered from 24,889 subjects who had visited a health promotion center. NFS was calculated to assess the severity of fibrosis in all the subjects. Serum LDL-C levels were measured using a direct method.
Results
Serum LDL-C levels tended to decrease with increasing NFS quartiles (P for trend<0.01). NFS was one of the major determinants of serum LDL-C level after adjusting for age, sex, lifestyle-related factors, and other covariates. The estimated mean serum LDL-C level was significantly lower in the highest quartile of NFS than in the lowest quartile of NFS.
Conclusion
NFS had a negative association with serum LDL-C levels in adults with NAFLD. Elevated LDL-C level is not only a risk factor of cardiovascular disease but also a predictive indicator of NAFLD severity.

Keyword

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; Cholesterol, LDL; Cholesterol, VLDL; Fibrosis