Intensive lifestyle intervention positively affects nonalcoholic fatty liver fibrosis score (NFS) and key metabolic parameters: A retrospective study

Abstract

To date lifestyle intervention is the only proven therapy to treat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this study, we retrospectively analyze the influence of a structured, multimodal 52-week lifestyle intervention program on NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) as a marker for liver fibrosis. At baseline, 16/47 subjects (34.0%) in our cohort displayed elevated NFS levels suggestive for advanced stages of liver fibrosis. Already after the initial 12-week hypocaloric fasting phase with a formula diet, this number decreased significantly and continued to decrease until the end of the program to 10/47 (21.3%). At baseline, 48.9% of the participants had impaired glucose metabolism, as defined by impaired fasting glucose, elevated HbA1c, or overt type 2 diabetes mellitus. This proportion reduced markedly to 31.9% by the end of the program. The proportion of advanced stages of liver fibrosis was especially high in the subgroup of participants with impaired glucose metabolism. This group particularly benefited from the lifestyle intervention program in terms of their NFS. The present study demonstrates that participants of structured multimodal lifestyle intervention programs with formula diets can significantly improve their metabolic parameters, such as body weight, fasting glucose, HbA1c, and lipids, and substantially reduce their risk of advanced liver fibrosis. Primary care providers must be aware of the close link between impaired glucose metabolism and increased liver-related risk and refer their metabolically ill patients to effective programs.