Lifestyle Intervention Improves Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in Children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

Background/Objectives: We evaluated the efficacy of a good lifestyle intervention on the severity of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in children with Down syndrome (DS). Methods: This retrospective longitudinal study included 31 children with Down syndrome (DS) who were affected by MASLD and attended nutritional counseling based on a nutritional approach (e.g., Mediterranean diet and antioxidant supplements), as well as physical exercise. Clinical parameters, markers of low-grade systemic inflammation, and hepatic steatosis, as assessed by ultrasound, were evaluated at baseline (T0) and after 6 months (T1). Results: Several anthropometric and biochemical parameters, including body mass index, waist circumference, diastolic and systolic blood pressure, aspartate aminotransferase, basal insulin, insulin resistance, pro-inflammatory interleukin-1β, and anti-inflammatory interleukin-10, showed significant improvement after 6 months of a nutritional approach. This study also found a regression of at least one grade of hepatic steatosis in a significant portion of patients, especially in those who received antioxidant supplements. Conclusions: Our study further supports the hypothesis that a healthy lifestyle intervention, based on adherence to the Mediterranean diet, natural supplements with antioxidant properties, and regular physical activity, can be considered a safe therapeutic approach for reducing the risk and severity of MASLD in children with DS.

Keywords: MASLD; antioxidants; cytokines; down syndrome; mediterranean diet.

Figure 1

Adherence to lifestyle modifications. The graphs show the adherence of patients to (A) regular physical activity, (B) MD, and (C) HXT and VitE supplement at baseline (T0) and after 6 months (T1). Data are expressed as percentages.

Figure 2

Regression of steatosis grade with different lifestyle modifications. The violin plot (A) illustrates the correlation between improvement in steatosis (at least 1 grade) and adherence to a medical diet (MD), regular physical activity (PA), or supplement consumption (HXT + VitE) following a 6-month follow-up. The histograms reported data in patients who did (B) and did not (C) consume HXT + VitE supplementation.