title: Association between aspirin use and the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a cross-sectional study from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many basic mechanistic studies found that aspirin inhibited multiple pathways involved in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) development.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate an association between aspirin use and NAFLD prevalence in the general US population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). We included 11 416 adults aged 20-74 years who underwent ultrasonography; of those, 2889 were identified as having NAFLD and 8527 as controls. Aspirin use during the month prior to interview was categorised as never use (0 times), occasional use (1-14 times) and regular use (≥15 times).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis, regular relative to no aspirin use was inversely associated with prevalent NAFLD [odds ratio (OR) = 0.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.51-0.74; P for trend = 0.04], a finding that was primarily limited to men (OR = 0.32, 95% CI 0.23-0.45; P for interaction < 0.01) and those who were older (>60 years) (OR = 0.21, 95% CI 0.14-0.30; P for interaction < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings, from the first human study to investigate an association of aspirin use with NAFLD, suggest that regular aspirin use (≥ 15 times per month) may be associated with a lower prevalence of NAFLD, primarily among men and older patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, NY, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shahzad
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jawairia
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bostick
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mustacchia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009749:Nutrition Surveys / Q000379:methods; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D001241:Aspirin