Association Between Dietary Fiber Intake and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Adults.

Huimin Zhao,Yaning Quan,Aihua Yang,Jiajia Cui,Yongye Sun,Lina Mao

doi:10.3389/fnut.2020.593735

Abstract

Background: Evidence on the association of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a public health concern, with dietary fiber intake is inconsistent.Objective: To investigate the relationship between dietary fiber intake from different sources and NAFLD risk in US adults.Methods: Data were collected from the 2007–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. NAFLD was defined as a United States Fatty Liver Index ≥30, and dietary fiber intake was assessed through two 24-h dietary recall interviews. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline models were used to explore the relationship of dietary intakes of total, cereal, fruit, and vegetable fiber with NAFLD risk.Results: A total of 6,613 participants, aged more than 20 years, were included in this study. After adjusting for multiple confounding factors, the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of NAFLD for the highest quartile vs. lowest quartile intakes of total, cereal, fruit, and vegetable fiber were 0.12 (0.08–0.16), 0.25 (0.19–0.33), 0.41 (0.33–0.52), and 0.42 (0.32–0.56), respectively. In stratified analyses by sex and age, statistically significant negative associations of dietary intakes of total, cereal, fruit, and vegetable fiber with NAFLD risk were observed in all participants. Dose-response analysis indicated a non-linear correlation between NAFLD risk and dietary intake of total fiber, whereas the relationship was linear for cereal, fruit, and vegetable fiber intakes.Conclusion: Total, cereal, fruit, and vegetable fiber intakes exhibit negative correlations with NAFLD risk in the general adult population in the United States.

Highlights

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a clinicopathological syndrome characterized by excessive fat deposition in hepatocytes in the absence of definite liver-damaging factors, such as alcohol intake [1]
The NAFLD group exhibited a higher number of participants with hypertension or diabetes, higher body mass index, and higher serum uric acid (UA) level, whereas the education level, income, vigorous recreational physical activity level, and total fiber intake and cereal, fruit, and vegetable fiber intakes were lower in the NAFLD group
After further adjusting for race, education level, smoking status, vigorous recreational activities, hypertension, diabetes, income, average daily energy intake, UA level, and total cholesterol (TC) level, dietary fiber intakes still exhibited a negative association with NAFLD risk

Summary

Introduction

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a clinicopathological syndrome characterized by excessive fat deposition in hepatocytes in the absence of definite liver-damaging factors, such as alcohol intake [1]. Some studies have confirmed that high intake of dietary fiber, which is found predominantly in cereals, fruits, and vegetables, was associated with decreased risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperuricemia, cardiovascular disease, and cancer [19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. A cross-sectional study in the Netherlands demonstrated that dietary fiber intake was low among participants with a high fatty liver index [26] Another large cross-sectional study in China demonstrated the association of total dietary fiber intake with a low prevalence of newly diagnosed NAFLD [27]. A case–control study in Iran demonstrated that dietary fiber intake in patients with NAFLD was lower than that in healthy controls [28]. Evidence on the association of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a public health concern, with dietary fiber intake is inconsistent

Methods

Results

Conclusion