NAFLD and Increased Aortic Stiffness: Parallel or Common Physiopathological Mechanisms?
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the leading cause of chronic liver diseases worldwide. Liver inflammation and fibrosis related to NAFLD contribute to disease progression and increasing liver-related mortality and morbidity. Increasing data suggest that NAFLD may be linked to atherosclerotic vascular disease independent of other established cardiovascular risk factors. Central arterial stiffness has been recognized as a measure of cumulative cardiovascular risk marker load, and the measure of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) is regarded as the gold standard assessment of aortic stiffness. It has been shown that increased aortic stiffness predicts cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in several clinical settings, including type 2 diabetes mellitus, a well-known condition associated with advanced stages of NAFLD. Furthermore, recently-published studies reported a strong association between NAFLD and increased arterial stiffness, suggesting a possible link in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and NAFLD. We sought to review the published data on the associations between NAFLD and aortic stiffness, in order to better understand the interplay between these two conditions and identify possible common physiopathological mechanisms.
Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School and University Hospital Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Croton 72, Rio de Janeiro 22750-240, Brazil. crisvillelanog@gmail.com.
Cristiane A
CA
Villela-Nogueira
Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School and University Hospital Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Croton 72, Rio de Janeiro 22750-240, Brazil. nathaliecleite@gmail.com.
Nathalie C
NC
Leite
Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School and University Hospital Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Croton 72, Rio de Janeiro 22750-240, Brazil. claudiacardoso@hucff.ufrj.br.
Claudia R L
CR
Cardoso
Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School and University Hospital Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Croton 72, Rio de Janeiro 22750-240, Brazil. gilsalles@hucff.ufrj.br.
Gil F
GF
Salles
D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005355:Fibrosis; D006801:Humans; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011379:Prognosis; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
arterial stiffness; liver fibrosis; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; pulse wave velocity; steatohepatitis