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. 2024 Nov 27;19(11):e0314585.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314585. eCollection 2024.

Prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and its association with arterial stiffness in adolescents: Results from the EVA4YOU study

Johannes Nairz  1   2   3 , Alex Messner  1   2 , Sophia J Kiechl  1   4 , Bernhard Winder  1   5 , Christoph Hochmayr  2 , Julian Granna  1 , Alexander E Egger  6 , Andrea Griesmacher  6 , Ralf Geiger  3 , Michael Knoflach  1   7 , Ursula Kiechl-Kohlendorfer  2 ; Early Vascular Ageing in the YOUth (EVA4YOU) Study Group
Affiliations

Prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and its association with arterial stiffness in adolescents: Results from the EVA4YOU study

Johannes Nairz et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Aim: To determine the prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) among Western Austrian adolescents and its association with arterial stiffness as a marker of early vascular ageing.

Methods: In the cross-sectional Early Vascular Ageing in the YOUth study, liver fat content was assessed by controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) using signals acquired by FibroScan (Echosense, Paris, France) in 14- to 19-year-old Austrian adolescents. Arterial stiffness was determined by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and cardiovascular risk factors by a face-to-face interview, physical examination, and fasting blood analyses. Linear regression models and one-way analysis of variance were performed to analyze the association between liver fat content, MASLD and cfPWV.

Results: A total of 1292 study participants (65.2% female) aged 17.2 ± 1.3 years were included. MASLD was detected in 62 (4.8%) adolescents. CAP value showed a significant association with cfPWV in the unadjusted model (p < 0.001) but lost its significant influence in the multivariable model after adjusting for sex, age and cardiovascular risk criteria (increased BMI or waist circumference, impaired glucose metabolism, elevated blood pressure, elevated plasma triglycerides, and decreased HDL cholesterol; p = 0.540). In the analysis of variance, a significant increase in cfPWV was observed in adolescents with any of the five cardiovascular risk criteria for MASLD (p < 0.001), but not with the additional presence of steatotic liver disease (p = 0.291).

Conclusion: In our adolescent cohort, liver fat content and MASLD were not found to be independent predictors for early vascular ageing. Nevertheless, the determination of liver fat content can be a useful tool to identify adolescents at high risk for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Study flow chart.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Boxplot mean cfPWV comparisons.
Subjects with an underlying causal liver pathology for SLD (including excessive alcohol consumption) were excluded from this analysis (N = 51), thus participants from group 3 met all definition criteria for MASLD. Moderate outliers are marked with circles (o) and extreme outliers are marked with asterisks (*). CMRF, cardiometabolic risk factor; SLD, steatotic liver disease; and MASLD, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. a Pairwise comparison of the means using post-hoc Bonferroni statistical tests (one-way ANOVA).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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