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Review
. 2020 Jun 20:8:2050312120933804.
doi: 10.1177/2050312120933804. eCollection 2020.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease phenotypes

Giandomenico Bisaccia  1 , Fabrizio Ricci  1   2 , Cesare Mantini  1 , Claudio Tana  3 , Gian Luca Romani  1 , Cosima Schiavone  4 , Sabina Gallina  1
Affiliations
Review

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease phenotypes

Giandomenico Bisaccia et al. SAGE Open Med. .

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is increasingly recognized as a major global health problem. Intertwined with diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease embraces a spectrum of liver conditions spanning from steatosis to inflammation, fibrosis, and liver failure. Compared with the general population, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease is higher among nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients, in whom comprehensive cardiovascular risk assessment is highly desirable. Preclinical effects of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease on the heart include both metabolic and structural changes eventually preceding overt myocardial dysfunction. Particularly, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with enhanced atherosclerosis, heart muscle disease, valvular heart disease, and arrhythmias, with endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, metabolic dysregulation, and oxidative stress playing in the background. In this topical review, we aimed to summarize current evidence on the epidemiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, discuss the pathophysiological links between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease, illustrate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease-related cardiovascular phenotypes, and finally provide a glimpse on the relationship between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiac steatosis, mitochondrial (dys)function, and cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction.

Keywords: Cardiovascular; NAFLD; cardiovascular disease; cardiovascular risk; gastroenterology/hepatology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Geographical distribution of NAFLD and CVD prevalence. CVD prevalence is represented on each country’s territory; NAFLD prevalence is represented as a pie chart for each world region. NAFLD and CVD prevalences were obtained from Younossi et al. and the Global Burden of Disease Results tool (http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool), respectively. Information from GBD Results Tool is made available under the ODC Attribution License (https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/by/1-0/index.html).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
NAFLD and CVD phenotypes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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