Abstract 19220: Hepatic Steatosis is Independently Associated With an Increased Vascular Stiffness in Overweight Subjects
Introduction: The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has increased dramatically during the past decades, affecting 50-75 % of the obese subjects. Subjects with NAFLD have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. We investigated whether an increase in hepatic steatosis is independently associated with an increase in vascular stiffness. Methods: We recruited a subcohort of the Nijmegen Biomedical Study, a large population based cohort, including 112 subjects, BMI > 27 kg/m2, aged 55-81 years. The amount of liver fat was quantified by MR spectroscopy. Arterial stiffness was assessed by measurement of the carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). The association between the hepatic steatosis and vascular stiffness was investigated by linear regression analysis with and without adjustment for the conventional cardiovascular risk factors. Results: In univariate analysis, hepatic steasosis was found to be correlated with PWV (r = 0.267; p = 0.005). After adjustment for age, sex, heart rate, alcohol use, and BMI still a significant positive association was present with a standardized beta of 0,298 (p=0.004). Even after adjustment for conventional cardiovascular risk factors including mean arterial pressure, blood pressure lowering and anti-diabetic drugs, hepatic steatosis remained independently associated with PWV ( standardized beta 0.269, p = 0.019). Conclusions: In a group of overweight subjects hepatic steatosis is associated with arterial stiffness. This association is independent of blood pressure, use of antihypertensives and the other traditional cardiovascular risk factors.