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. 2022 Sep;46(9):1638-1643.
doi: 10.1038/s41366-022-01159-3. Epub 2022 Jun 8.

Evening chronotype is associated with severe NAFLD in obesity

Claudia Vetrani #  1 , Luigi Barrea #  2   3 , Ludovica Verde  1 , Gerardo Sarno  4 , Annamaria Docimo  1 , Giulia de Alteriis  1 , Silvia Savastano  1   3 , Annamaria Colao  1   3   5 , Giovanna Muscogiuri  6   7   8
Affiliations

Evening chronotype is associated with severe NAFLD in obesity

Claudia Vetrani et al. Int J Obes (Lond). 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Background/objectives: Chronotype, i.e., the individual attitude to carry out the daily activities at a certain time of the day, has been reported to play a role in metabolic diseases. Thus, the aim of our study was to investigate the association of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with chronotype categories in individuals with obesity.

Subjects/methods: In this cross-sectional study, participants underwent to anthropometric, biochemical, and the Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) assessment. Chronotype categories were assessed by the Horne-Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). The following indirect indices of NAFLD were calculated: Liver Fat Equation (LFE), Hepatic Steatosis Index (HSI) and Index of Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (ION).

Results: The study population consisted of 87 participants (40.3 ± 12.3 years; BMI 45.6 ± 6.3 kg/m2; 64F/23M). According to the chronotype score, 31.0% were morning (MC), 36.8% were intermediate (IC), and 32.2% evening chronotype (EC). Individuals with IC were significantly younger than those with MC and EC (p = 0.002 and p = 0.047, respectively). EC presented significantly higher BMI (p < 0.001), waist circumference (p = 0.007), and hip circumference (p = 0.001) than MC. Moreover, EC had higher BMI (p < 0.001) and waist circumference (p = 0.011) than IC. All participants presented NAFLD (HSI ≥ 36 and LFE ≥ 5). Nevertheless, only individuals with EC were above the threshold of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis evaluated as ION index (ION ≥ 50). Individuals with EC presented significantly higher VAI (p = 0.036), LFE (p = 0.034), HSI (p < 0.001) and ION (p = 0.014) than MC, also after the adjustment for age, gender, and BMI.

Conclusion: EC is associated with more severe NAFLD independently of age, gender, and BMI than MC and IC in individuals with obesity.

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