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Abstract
Background
Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is considered an important source of bioactive molecules that can influence coronary arteries directly and is related to the concurrent presence of both obstructive coronary stenosis and myocardial ischemia independently. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become an emergent health problem worldwide.
Aim
This cross-sectional study aimed to address the relationship between the volume of EAT and NAFLD and other cardiovascular risk factors in the general population.
Materials and methods
In this study, we selected a total of 2,238 participants aged at least 40 years from the Jidong community in Tangshan, China. The 64-slice CT was used to survey the volume of EAT and liver ultrasonography was used for the diagnosis of NAFLD. The study cohorts were compared according to EAT volume.
Results
Cardiovascular risk factors, such as coronary artery calcium score, carotid intima-media thickness, NAFLD, and ideal cardiovascular health metrics were also found to be related to EAT. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, NAFLD groups showed significant association with higher EAT volume, after correcting for main cardiovascular disease risk factors (OR [95% CI], 1.407 [1.117, 1.773]).
Conclusion
Our findings in a general community population provide evidence that EAT is strongly associated with NAFLD and other cardiovascular risk factors.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants from the Medical and Health Science and Technology Innovation Project of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (no 201612M1009).
Author contributions
All authors contributed toward data analysis, drafting and revising the paper and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.