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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with cognitive function in adults
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with cognitive function in adults

Sang Won Seo, Rebecca F Gottesman, Jeanne M Clark, Ruben Hernaez, Yoosoo Chang, Changsoo Kim, Kyoung Hwa Ha, Eliseo Guallar and Mariana Lazo
Neurology, v 86(12), pp 1136-1142
22 Mar 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000002498
PMID: 26911638
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988313508430View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open
url
https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000002498View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Adult Cognition - physiology Cognition Disorders - diagnosis Cognition Disorders - epidemiology Cognition Disorders - psychology Cross-Sectional Studies Female Humans Male Middle Aged Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - diagnosis Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - epidemiology Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - psychology Nutrition Surveys - trends Psychomotor Performance - physiology Risk Factors Young Adult
We hypothesized that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is independently associated with cognitive impairment in a representative sample of the general US population regardless of the presence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or its risk factors. This was a cross-sectional study of 4,472 adults aged 20-59 years who participated in the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey. The participants underwent assessment of liver enzyme activity and hepatic steatosis by ultrasound, and underwent cognitive evaluation using the following computer-administered tests: the Simple Reaction Time Test (SRTT), the Symbol-Digit Substitution Test (SDST), and the Serial Digit Learning Test (SDLT). We defined NAFLD as moderate/severe steatosis as determined by ultrasound in the absence of hepatitis B or C or excessive alcohol consumption. We used multiple linear regression models to examine the association between NAFLD and cognitive function while controlling for potential confounders. Participants with NAFLD showed lower overall performance on the SDLT (β = 0.726, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.105-1.347), while associations with SRTT and SDST did not reach significance. Increased activity of the liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase (β = 0.018, 95% CI 0.006-0.030) and aspartate aminotransferase (β = 0.021, 95% CI 0.005-0.037) correlated with lower performance on the SDLT, while increased alanine aminotransferase was also correlated with lower performance in the SDST (β = 0.002, 95% CI 0.0001-0.004). NAFLD was independently associated with lower cognitive performance independent of CVD and its risk factors. Given the scarcity of risk factors associated with age-related cognitive decline, these findings may have significant implications.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Clinical Neurology
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