Obesity drives the link between liver fat and depression: Cross-sectional and prospective investigations

Inconsistent associations have been reported between steatotic liver disease (SLD) and depression. We aimed to investigate the cross-sectional and prospective associations between MRI-derived liver fat, SLD and depression.

We used UK Biobank data. Liver fat was measured with liver MRI proton density fat fraction. SLD was defined as liver fat ≥5%. Depression was identified through self-reported diagnosis and hospital records. We examined cross-sectional associations using logistic regression and prospective associations using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for potential confounders, including socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors and body mass index (BMI).

Participants numbering 36 587 were included (age 64.5 years, 51.4% females, 28.2% SLD), and of these, 2849 participants had prevalent depression, higher in individuals with SLD (9.1%) than in those without (7.3%). SLD was associated with 40% higher odds of depression (OR: 1.40 (1.29, 1.52)) after adjusting for age, sex and socioeconomic status, but this was attenuated (OR: 1.12 (1.01, 1.23)) after adjusting for BMI. In the prospective analysis (n = 33 762), 414 people received a new diagnosis of depression over a median follow-up of 4.5 years. SLD was initially associated with a 27% higher depression risk (HR: 1.27 [1.03, 1.56]), but this was no longer significant after BMI adjustment (HR: 0.93 (0.73, 1.18)). Liver fat (per 5% increase) was not associated with depression risk (HR: 1.02 (0.92, 1.12)). No sex differences were identified.

The association between liver fat and depression is likely due to reverse causation and the confounding effect of BMI.