TY - JOUR T1 - Association between hepatic fat and subclinical vascular disease burden in the general population JF - BMJ Open Gastroenterology JO - BMJ Open Gastro DO - 10.1136/bmjgast-2021-000709 VL - 8 IS - 1 SP - e000709 AU - Xinting Cai AU - Susanne Rospleszcz AU - Birger Mensel AU - Ulf Schminke AU - Jens-Peter Kühn AU - Ali Alexander Aghdassi AU - Corinna Storz AU - Roberto Lorbeer AU - Christopher L Schlett AU - Wolfgang Rathmann AU - Michael Roden AU - Simon Hohenester AU - Robin Bülow AU - Fabian Bamberg AU - Annette Peters AU - Barbara Thorand AU - Henry Völzke AU - Jana Nano Y1 - 2021/09/01 UR - http://bmjopengastro.bmj.com//content/8/1/e000709.abstract N2 - Objective It is still controversial if increased hepatic fat independently contributes to cardiovascular risk. We aimed to assess the association between hepatic fat quantified by MRI and various subclinical vascular disease parameters.Design We included two cross-sectional investigations embedded in two independent population-based studies (Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP): n=1341; Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg (KORA): n=386). The participants underwent a whole-body MRI examination. Hepatic fat content was quantified by proton-density fat fraction (PDFF). Aortic diameters in both studies and carotid plaque-related parameters in KORA were measured with MRI. In SHIP, carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and plaque were assessed by ultrasound. We used (ordered) logistic or linear regression to assess associations between hepatic fat and subclinical vascular disease.Results The prevalence of fatty liver disease (FLD) (PDFF >5.6%) was 35% in SHIP and 43% in KORA. In SHIP, hepatic fat was positively associated with ascending (β, 95% CI 0.06 (0.04 to 0.08)), descending (0.05 (0.04 to 0.07)) and infrarenal (0.02 (0.01 to 0.03)) aortic diameters, as well as with higher odds of plaque presence (OR, 95% CI 1.22 (1.05 to 1.42)) and greater cIMT (β, 95% CI 0.01 (0.004 to 0.02)) in the age-adjusted and sex-adjusted model. However, further adjustment for additional cardiometabolic risk factors, particularly body mass index, attenuated these associations. In KORA, no significant associations were found.Conclusions The relation between hepatic fat and subclinical vascular disease was not independent of overall adiposity. Given the close relation of FLD with cardiometabolic risk factors, people with FLD should still be prioritised for cardiovascular disease screening.Data are available upon reasonable request. The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to data protection reasons. The data are available in an anonymised form on reasonable request to the corresponding author. ER -