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Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease and heavy alcohol consumption increase mortality:A nationwide
So Hyun Cho1, Seohyun Kim2, Rosa Oh1
1Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81, Irwon-Ro, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea.
Background:
The effects of excessive alcohol consumption on the prognosis of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) remain unclear. We investigated all-cause and cause-specific mortality according to the amount of alcohol consumed by Asian individuals with MAFLD.
Methods:
This nationwide retrospective study included 996,508 adults aged 40-79 years who underwent health check-ups between 2009 and 2012. Participants were categorized by the alcohol consumption-non-alcohol, moderate alcohol, and heavy alcohol group (≥ 30 g/day for men, ≥ 20 g/day for women) and by the combination of the presence or absence of MAFLD. Hepatic steatosis was defined as the fatty liver index ≥ 30. Cox analyses were used to analyze the association between alcohol consumption and MAFLD and all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
Results:
MAFLD significantly increased all-cause, liver-, and cancer-related mortality. Individuals with both MAFLD and heavy alcohol consumption expressed the highest mortality risk in liver-related mortality compared to non-MAFLD and non-alcohol group (adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 9.8; 95% confidence interval (CI), 8.20-12.29). Regardless of MAFLD, heavy alcohol consumption increased the risk of liver- and cancer-related mortality.
Conclusions:
MAFLD and heavy alcohol consumption increased all-cause, liver-, and cancer-related mortality. Heavy alcohol consumption and MAFLD synergistically increase liver-related mortality.
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