title: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis in young adult men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The possible cause of accelerated atherosclerosis in NAFLD may be the relationship with the MetS and its components. Our primary goal was to evaluate the relationship between NAFLD and subclinical atherosclerosis in adult male patients between 20 and 40 years of age. Moreover, we aimed to investigate the changes in this association according to the presence or absence of MetS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-one male patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD and 41 healthy male volunteers were enrolled. In order to exclude any interference of confounding factors, we studied a specifically selected group with no additional cardiovascular risk. PWV, CIMT and FMD levels were measured in all patients and controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of cf-PWV were significantly higher in SS and NASH patients compared to the control group (P < 0.001); no significant difference was found between SS and NASH patients (P > 0.05). We found significantly decreased FMD levels in patients with SS and NASH compared with control subjects (P < 0.001). Subjects with NASH had significantly greater CIMT measurements than the SS and controls (P = 0.026, P < 0.001, respectively). Although, NAFLD patients with MetS had increased cf-PWV and CIMT and reduced FMD compared to healthy subjects (P < 0.05), no significant difference existed between NAFLD with Mets and NAFLD without MetS in terms of cf-PWV, CIMT and FMD (P > 0.05) CONCLUSION: The present study showed that the presence of NAFLD leads to increased risk of endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis in adult male patients, independent of MetS.
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: kadirozturk3041@gmail.com.
authors: Kadir
authors: K
authors: Ozturk
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Ahmet
authors: A
authors: Uygun
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Ahmet Kerem
authors: AK
authors: Guler
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Hakan
authors: H
authors: Demirci
authors: Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
authors: Cafer
authors: C
authors: Ozdemir
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Cakir
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Yusuf Serdar
authors: YS
authors: Sakin
authors: Department of Health Public and Epidemiology, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Turker
authors: T
authors: Turker
authors: Department of Radiology, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Sebahattin
authors: S
authors: Sari
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Seref
authors: S
authors: Demirbas
authors: Department of Pathology, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Yıldırım
authors: Y
authors: Karslıoğlu
authors: Department of Radiology, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Mutlu
authors: M
authors: Saglam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001706:Biopsy; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D059289:Vascular Stiffness; D014664:Vasodilation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Arterial stiffness; Carotid intima media thickness; Flow mediated dilatation; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease