Cardiovascular Risk in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 17; p. 3104
• Main Authors: Tana, Claudio, Ballestri, Stefano, Ricci, Fabrizio, Di Vincenzo, Angelo, Ticinesi, Andrea, Gallina, Sabina, Giamberardino, Maria Adele, Cipollone, Francesco, Sutton, Richard, Vettor, Roberto, Fedorowski, Artur, Meschi, Tiziana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26.08.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems; Cardiology and Cardiovascular Disease; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - etiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - physiopathology; Cardiovascular Diseases - therapy; Cardiovascular risk factors; Clinical Medicine; Fatty liver; Female; Gastroenterologi; Gastroenterologi och hepatologi; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; Health risk assessment; Humans; Kardiologi; Kardiologi och kardiovaskulära sjukdomar; Klinisk medicin; Male; Medical and Health Sciences; Medical imaging; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Metabolic syndrome; Middle Aged; Mortality; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - complications; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - epidemiology; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - physiopathology; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - therapy; Prevalence; Review; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; metabolic syndrome; cardiovascular disease; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; cardiovascular risk factors
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16173104

New evidence suggests that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has a strong multifaceted relationship with diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events, regardless of traditional risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity. Given the pandemic-level rise of NAFLD—in parallel with the increasing prevalence of obesity and other components of the metabolic syndrome—and its association with poor cardiovascular outcomes, the question of how to manage NAFLD properly, in order to reduce the burden of associated incident cardiovascular events, is both timely and highly relevant. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge of the association between NAFLD and cardiovascular disease, and also to discuss possible clinical strategies for cardiovascular risk assessment, as well as the spectrum of available therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of NAFLD and its downstream events.