Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Is an Independent Risk Factor for LDL Cholesterol Target Level

Although patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) face a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), it is not known whether people with NAFLD are less likely to achieve optimal management of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol than those without NAFLD. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal effect of NAFLD on the management of LDL cholesterol in 5610 adults from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study. Participants were classified into NAFLD and normal groups. Non-achievement of the target LDL cholesterol level was set according to one's cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk level. The estimated proportion of individuals who did not achieve their LDL cholesterol targets was higher in the NAFLD group than in the normal group during the follow-up period of 12 years in a generalized estimation equation model. Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed a hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval for incident non-achievement of one's LDL cholesterol target of 1.196 (1.057-1.353) in the NAFLD group (p = 0.005). We found that NAFLD was significantly related to non-achievement of LDL cholesterol targets in this prospective cohort study. Prevention and proper management of NAFLD have important health implications for the prevention of CVD.