Interplay between cardiometabolic risk factors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: Clinical evidence on cardiovascular disease
Academic Article in Scopus
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, is the most common liver disease, with a prevalence of 38% in the adult population. MASLD is defined as steatotic liver disease with at least one cardiometabolic risk factor and the absence of harmful alcohol intake. Individuals with MASLD have a high percentage of cardiometabolic comorbidities such as obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension. Therefore, these patients are at increased risk for the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the leading cause of death in MASLD patients. There is evidence suggesting links between MASLD and insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction in the development of CVD, such as arrhythmia (e.g., atrial fibrillation), atherosclerotic heart disease, cardiomyopathy (e.g., left ventricular dysfunction and hypertrophy), heart failure, venous thrombosis, cardiac conduction defects, and peripheral artery disease. In this review, we highlight how cardiometabolic risk factors link MASLD to the development of CVD, considering insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction. Therapeutic strategies are also considered.
