Possible association between Helicobacter pylori infection (HPI) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been proposed by several studies with inconsistent conclusions. Here, we studied the association between HPI and NAFLD at three levels: 1.) Genetic level; 2.) Small molecular level; and 3.) Clinical level. Relation data between diseases, genes, and small molecules were acquired from Pathway Studio ResNet showed that HPI rate in NAFLD group was significantly higher than that in the non-NAFLD group (51.9% vs. 43.6%; p-value= 4.9E-4). Multivariate logistic regression results supported the observations and suggested that HPI served as a risk factor for NAFLD in the experiment data studied (odds ratio: 1.387, p-value = 0.018). Results from this study support the hypothesis that complex biological association may exist between HPI and NAFLD, which partially explain the significant clinical co-incidence in the elderly population of south China.

Growth hormone (GH) is an important regulator of metabolism and body composition. GH deficiency is associated with increased visceral body fat and other features of the metabolic syndrome. Here we performed a cross-sectional study to explore the association of GH levels with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is considered to be the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. A total of 1,667 subjects were diagnosed as NAFLD according the diagnostic criteria, and 5,479 subjects were defined as the controls. The subjects with NAFLD had significantly lower levels of serum GH than the controls. Those with low GH levels had a higher prevalence of NAFLD and the metabolic syndrome. A stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that GH levels were significantly associated with the risk factor for NAFLD (OR = 0.651, 95%CI = 0.574–0.738, P<0.001). Our results showed a significant association between lower serum GH levels and NAFLD.

PLGs are not rare among Chinese petrochemical employees. Male gender, HBsAg positivity, and middle age are risk factors for developing PLGs.

Previous clinical studies highlighted nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as a hepatic facet of metabolic syndrome, which progresses toward Type 2 diabetes along with an elevation of HbA1c in the blood. Longitudinal observations were performed in a cohort of 2811 participants with no liver disease at inception. The rate of the conversion into NAFLD was 15.7% (440/2811), with a steady increase in prevalence observed in sub-cohorts with increasing HbA1c levels. Moreover, regression analysis indicated that HbA1c levels serve as the risk factors for NAFLD after multiple adjustments (odds ratio: 1.58, P-value &lt; 0.004). When HbA1c-related molecular networks were investigated using natural language programming algorithms, multiple genetic/small molecular (SM) pathways were highlighted as connectors between the HbA1c levels and the development of NAFLD, including ones for nitric oxide, hypoxia and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). Our results suggest that increased levels of HbA1c may contribute to the progression of NAFLD either directly, by stimulating RAGE or indirectly, through the promotion of hypoxia and suppression of the release of NO. Further studies are needed to test the impact of HbA1c on the development of the chronic liver disease.

Background Atrial fibrillation and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are two pathological conditions that are highly prevalent worldwide and share multiple CVD risk factors. There are rare researches performed among elderly adults. Aims We conducted this cross-sectional analysis of elderly adults (≥65 years) to investigate the association between atrial fibrillation and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Methods We analyzed clinical data of the elderly adults (≥ 65 years) who had health examination in Zhenhai Lianhua Hospital, Ningbo, China, in 2014. Results 522 of the 1688 participants were diagnosed with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and 39 participants were diagnosed as having atrial fibrillation. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was associated with risk factors for AF in the elderly Chinese population (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.03-3.69). Adjustments for age, gender, systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, total cholesterol and albumin, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and prevalent atrial fibrillation remained statistically significant (OR 2.76, 95% CI 1.32-5.77). Conclusions Our results show that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation in an elderly Chinese population.