Relation of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Framingham Risk Score to Flow-Mediated Dilation in Patients With Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has a high prevalence in the general population. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is a surrogated marker of early atherosclerosis. Few data investigating the relation between FMD, NAFLD, and cardiovascular (CV) risk are available. We recruited 367 consecutive outpatients with cardiometabolic risk factors who underwent ultrasound scanning for liver steatosis and FMD. Mean age was 54.2 ± 12.2 years, and 37% were women. NAFLD was present in 281 patients (77%). Median FMD was 5.1%. FMD was significantly reduced in patients with NAFLD (p <0.001), diabetes (p = 0.001), history of coronary heart disease (p = 0.034), and metabolic syndrome (p = 0.050) and in those taking antihypertensive drugs (p = 0.022). Women disclosed greater FMD than males (p = 0.033). Moreover, FMD inversely correlated with age (Spearman rank correlation test [Rs], -0.171; p = 0.001), waist circumference (Rs, -0.127; p = 0.016), fasting blood glucose (Rs, -0.204; p <0.001), and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (Rs, -0.064; p = 0.234). At multivariate regression analysis, fasting blood glucose (β, -0.148; p = 0.008), age (β, -0.158; p = 0.005), and the presence of NAFLD (β, -0.132; p = 0.016) inversely correlated with FMD, whereas female gender predicted a better FMD (β, 0.125; p = 0.022). FMD and Framingham Risk Score (FRS) were inversely correlated (Rs, -0.183; p <0.001). After dividing patients into low (FRS <10; FMD, 5.5% [3.1% to 8.9%]), intermediate (FRS 10 to 20; FMD, 4.9% [2.7% to 7.5%]), and high (FRS >20; FMD, 3.3% [1.7% to 4.5%]) risk, FMD significantly decreased across risk classes of FRS (p = 0.003). At multivariate regression analysis, both FRS (β, -0.129; p = 0.016) and NAFLD (β, -0.218; p <0.001) were variables independently associated with FMD. In conclusion, the presence of NAFLD and FRS inversely correlated with FMD.