Association of Dietary Patterns with MRI Markers of Hepatic Inflammation and Fibrosis in the MAST4HEALTH Study

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 19; no. 2; p. 971
• Main Authors: Amanatidou, Athina I, Kaliora, Andriana C, Amerikanou, Charalampia, Stojanoski, Stefan, Milosevic, Natasa, Vezou, Chara, Beribaka, Mirjana, Banerjee, Rajarshi, Kalafati, Ioanna-Panagiota, Smyrnioudis, Ilias, Kurth, Mary Jo, Kannt, Aimo, Francino, M Pilar, Visvikis-Siest, Sophie, Deloukas, Panos, Llorens, Carlos, Marascio, Fernando, Milic, Natasa, Medic-Stojanoska, Milica, Gastaldelli, Amalia, Trivella, Maria Giovanna, Dedoussis, George V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 16-01-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Enzymes; Etiology; Fatty liver; Fibrosis; Food; Gastrointestinal surgery; Glucose; Health risks; Humans; Hypertension; Inflammation; Inflammation - complications; Insulin resistance; Life Sciences; Liver; Liver - pathology; Liver diseases; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Metabolic disorders; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - epidemiology; Nutrition; Physical activity; Poultry; Principal components analysis; Proton density (concentration); Quality assessment; Questionnaires; Smoking; Variables; Variance analysis; Serbia; United States > US; Italy; NAFLD; NASH; MAST4HEALTH; MRI; dietary patterns
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19020971

Whereas the etiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is complex, the role of nutrition as a causing and preventive factor is not fully explored. The aim of this study is to associate dietary patterns with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters in a European population (Greece, Italy, and Serbia) affected by NAFLD. For the first time, iron-corrected T1 (cT1), proton density fat fraction (PDFF), and the liver inflammation fibrosis score (LIF) were examined in relation to diet. A total of 97 obese patients with NAFLD from the MAST4HEALTH study were included in the analysis. A validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess the quality of diet and food combinations. Other variables investigated include anthropometric measurements, total type 2 diabetes risk, physical activity level (PAL), and smoking status. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to identify dietary patterns. Six dietary patterns were identified, namely "High-Sugar", "Prudent", "Western", "High-Fat and Salt", "Plant-Based", and "Low-Fat Dairy and Poultry". The "Western" pattern was positively associated with cT1 in the unadjusted model (beta: 0.020,
-value: 0.025) and even after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), PAL, smoking, the center of the study, and the other five dietary patterns (beta: 0.024,
-value: 0.020). On the contrary, compared with low-intake patients, those with medium intake of the "Low-Fat Dairy and Poultry" pattern were associated with lower values of cT1, PDFF, and LIF. However, patients with a "Low-Fat Dairy and Poultry" dietary pattern were negatively associated with MRI parameters (cT1: beta: -0.052,
-value: 0.046, PDFF: beta: -0.448,
-value: 0.030, LIF: beta: -0.408,
-value: 0.025). Our findings indicate several associations between MRI parameters and dietary patterns in NAFLD patients, highlighting the importance of diet in NAFLD.