Proinflammatory diet ups risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

A dietary pattern with high inflammatory potential contributes to an increased risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a recent study has shown.

“Diet is an important factor that can exacerbate or ameliorate chronic inflammation, which has been implicated in the pathogenesis of NAFLD,” the authors said.

This study, which sought to examine the relationship between the inflammatory potential of the diet and NAFLD risk, included a total of 12,877 participants aged >18 years (mean 39.4 years). Dietary intake was assessed at baseline using food frequency questionnaires.

The authors used white blood cell count as the inflammatory marker to create a dietary inflammatory potential score by reduced rank regression and stepwise linear regression. They then identified NAFLD through abdominal ultrasound during yearly health check-ups. Finally, the association between dietary potential score and NAFLD risk was estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models.

Overall, 2,744 first incident cases of NAFLD occurred during a median follow-up of 4.2 years.

After adjustment for potential confounders, multivariable hazard ratios for NAFLD across quartiles (Q) of the dietary inflammatory potential score were 1.00 (reference), 1.01 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.90‒1.13) for Q2, 1.15 (95 percent CI, 1.03‒1.29) for Q3, and 1.26 (95 percent CI, 1.13‒1.41) for Q4 (p_trend<0.0001).

Of note, the positive association was more pronounced in men than in women (p_interaction=0.02).

“Such findings provide the support that inflammation may be a potential mechanism linking diet to the risk of NAFLD,” the authors said.