Abstract
Previous studies have suggested that serum carotenoids may be inversely associated with liver injury, but limited data are available from population-based studies. We examined the relationship between serum carotenoid levels and the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Chinese adults. A total of 2935 participants aged 40–75 years were involved in this community-based cross-sectional study. General information, lifestyle factors, serum levels of carotenoid and the presence and degree of NAFLD were determined. After adjusting for potential covariates, we observed a dose-dependent inverse association between NAFLD risk and each individual serum carotenoid and total carotenoids (all p-values < 0.001). The ORs of NAFLD for the highest (vs. lowest) quartile were 0.44 (95% CI 0.35, 0.56) for α-carotene, 0.32 (95% CI 0.25, 0.41) for β-carotene, 0.62 (95% CI 0.49, 0.79) for β-cryptoxanthin, 0.54 (95% CI 0.42, 0.68) for lycopene, 0.56 (95% CI 0.44, 0.72) for lutein + zeaxanthin and 0.41 (95% CI 0.32, 0.53) for total carotenoids. Higher levels of α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein + zeaxanthin and total carotenoids were significantly associated with a decrease in the degree of NAFLD (p-trend: < 0.001 to 0.003). Serum carotenoids are inversely associated with prevalence of NAFLD in middle aged and elderly Chinese.
Highlights
Carotenoid levels were significantly lower in Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients diagnosed by biopsy or magnetic resonance imaging compared with controls[8,9]
We found an inverse association between serum levels of carotenoids and the prevalence of NAFLD and determined a dose-response in a large, community-based middle-aged and elderly Chinese population
Our findings provide evidence for a favorable association between serum carotenoids and the prevention of NAFLD
Summary
Carotenoid levels were significantly lower in NAFLD patients diagnosed by biopsy or magnetic resonance imaging compared with controls[8,9]. Liver tissue evaluation is the only unequivocal means of diagnosing NAFLD, but clearly cannot be used in large epidemiological studies or clinical screenings[2]. Few studies have examined the associations between circulating carotenoids and NAFLD assessed by ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging[9] or tissue evaluation[8]. More studies are needed to clarify the role of serum carotenoids on NAFLD in humans with different ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles. We tested the hypothesis that higher levels of serum carotenoids are associated with a lower risk of NAFLD using ultrasonography diagnosis in middle-aged and elderly Chinese people
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