Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun 4;18(11):6035.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18116035.

Urinary Phthalate Levels Associated with the Risk of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Adults: The Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) 2012-2014

Yun-Jung Yang  1 , Taehyen Kim  2 , Yeon-Pyo Hong  3
Affiliations

Urinary Phthalate Levels Associated with the Risk of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Adults: The Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) 2012-2014

Yun-Jung Yang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing worldwide. Recent experimental studies suggested that phthalates might induce NAFLD. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between phthalates metabolites and NAFLD in the human population. This cross-sectional analysis was performed using data from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey II (2012-2014) among Korean adults (n = 5800). NAFLD was diagnosed using the hepatic steatosis index (HSI) in the absence of other causes of chronic liver diseases. Among the participants (mean age 46 years, 47.5% male), the prevalence of NAFLD was associated with urinary levels of mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate, mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate, mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP), and mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP) compared to the reference group. In the multivariate model, the odds ratios (ORs), 95% confidence interval (CI) for NAFLD were 1.33 (1.00-1.78) and 1.39 (1.00-1.92) in the 3rd and 4th quartile of MEHHP, respectively. Based on the study findings, high levels of urinary phthalates are associated with the prevalence of NAFLD in Korean adults. Further investigation is required to elucidate the causal relationship.

Keywords: Korean National Environmental Health Survey; hepatic steatosis index; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; phthalates.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study population in the present study obtained from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey II (2012–2014). AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: alanine aminotransferase.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Angulo P. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. N. Engl. J. Med. 2002;346:1221–1231. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra011775. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Loomba R., Sanyal A.J. The global NAFLD epidemic. Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2013;10:686–690. doi: 10.1038/nrgastro.2013.171. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jeong E.H., Jun D.W., Cho Y.K., Choe Y.G., Ryu S., Lee S.M., Jang E.C. Regional prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, Korea. Clin. Mol. Hepatol. 2013;19:266–272. doi: 10.3350/cmh.2013.19.3.266. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sarwar R., Pierce N., Koppe S. Obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Current perspectives. Diabetes Metab. Syndr. Obes. 2018;11:533–542. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S146339. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Williams C.D., Stengel J., Asike M.I., Torres D.M., Shaw J., Contreras M., Landt C.L., Harrison S.A. Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis among a largely middle-aged population utilizing ultrasound and liver biopsy: A prospective study. Gastroenterology. 2011;140:124–131. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2010.09.038. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types