The clinical availability of non alcoholic fatty liver disease as an early predictor of the metabolic syndrome in Korean men: 5-Year's prospective cohort study

Abstract Objectives There were many studies for the clinical association between non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, while most of studies have focused on the unilateral effects of MetS on NAFLD, studies for reverse association were comparatively rare. Therefore, we carried out a prospective cohort study to evaluate the longitudinal effects of NAFLD on the development of MetS according to the degree of NAFLD. Patients and methods A total of 46,874 men, who had participated in a medical health check-up program in 2005, were enrolled in this study. Out of them, a Mets-free cohort of 11,926 without excluding conditions was followed up until 2010. All participants were classified into 3 groups by their NAFLD status (normal, mild, moderate to severe). The baseline values of metabolic components and the development rates of MetS were compared according to the degree of NAFLD. Cox proportional hazards model was used to measure the hazard ratios (HRs) for MetS according to the degree of NAFLD. Results During 41,912.1 person-years of follow-up, 1861 incident cases of MetS developed between 2006 and 2010. Even after adjusting for multiple covariates, the HRs (95% CI) for MetS were higher in the mild group (1.49; 1.30–1.70) and moderate to severe group (2.00; 1.46–2.73) compared to normal group, respectively ( P for trend Conclusions NAFLD was independent risk factor for MetS during the 5-yr follow-up period.