Associations between dietary fatty acid patterns and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in typical dietary population: A UK biobank study

Abstract

Background and AimsDietary fatty acid composition is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Few evidence had identified a clear role of dietary fatty acid composition of typical diet in NAFLD. We aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary patterns and NAFLD in populations with typical diets and to explore the effect of fatty acid composition in dietary patterns on NAFLD.MethodsPrincipal component analysis was used to identify 4 dietary patterns in UK Biobank participants. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between dietary patterns and NAFLD. Mediation analysis was performed to evaluate the extent to which the relationship between dietary patterns and NAFLD was explained by dietary fatty acid combinations, as surrogated by serum fatty acids measured by nuclear magnetic resonance.ResultsA dietary fatty acid pattern (DFP1) characterized by “PUFA enriched vegetarian” was negatively associated with NAFLD risk. Serum fatty acids were significantly associated with DFP1 and NAFLD. Mediation analysis showed SFA (27.8%, p < 0.001), PUFA (25.1%, p < 0.001), ω-6 PUFA (14.3%, p < 0.001), LA (15.6%, p < 0.001) and DHA (10%, p < 0.001) had a significant indirect effect on the association between DFP1 and NAFLD. A dietary pattern characterized by “PUFA enriched carnivore” (DFP2) was not associated with NAFLD risk.ConclusionA “PUFA enriched vegetarian” dietary pattern with increased LA and DHA, may be beneficial for the treatment or prevention of NAFLD, while a “PUFA enriched carnivore” dietary pattern may not be harmful to NAFLD.

Association of the habitual dietary intake with the fatty liver index and effect modification by metabotypes in the population-based KORA-Fit study

“…Conversely, the effects of protein and MUFA consumption on the development of fatty liver are still inconclusive. Interventional studies that directly assessed the effects of MUFAs or protein reported beneficial outcomes on indicators of fatty liver [ 49 – 51 ] while observational studies did not find any or even unfavourable associations [ 52 , 53 ]. Moreover, the dietary source seems to play a major role in the effects of both macronutrients on liver health which could explain the diverging findings in the mentioned studies.…”

A Healthful Plant-Based Diet as an Alternative Dietary Approach in the Management of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease

“…Indeed, in the EU SWEET project, high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and low/no-calorie beverages were associated with MASLD prevalence (FLIdefined) [54]. Conversely, MUFA and PUFA (especially n-3 fats), dietary fibers and plant based proteins may be beneficial to the liver [48,55]. Regarding n-3 PUFA, their supplementation is often associated with improvements in the biochemical aspects of MASLD as well as a reduction in hepatic steatosis [56].…”

Functional genomics implicates natural killer cells in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis

“…The IGAS study, led by (7), performed high-density genotyping of 9,069 AS cases and 13,578 healthy controls. In addition, we used the GWAS summary statistics from the UK Biobank, which involved a case-control design with 1,185 AS cases and 419,276 controls, providing genome-wide coverage for AS susceptibility loci (91).…”