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NAFLD increased hypertension risk among Korean men

Hypertension risk increased as the degree of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease became more severe in Korean men, according to research data.

Sung Keun Park, MD, department of preventive medicine, Kyung Yee University, South Korea, and colleagues conducted a cohort study of 22,090 men with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) without hypertension, who were enrolled in a medical program at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Seoul. The mean age of the patients was 42.1 years, and all underwent follow-up until 2010.

Sung Keun Park

Incident cases of hypertension were observed in 17.3% of the patients between 2006 and 2010. These patients were older and more likely to develop diabetes mellitus and NAFLD compared with patients without hypertension.

Researchers found that the incident rate of hypertension increased based on the degree of NAFLD (P<.001). Rates of hypertension ranged from 14.4% in patients with normal NAFLD levels to 21.8% in patients with mild NAFLD to 30.1% in those with moderate to severe NAFLD. Hypertension was prominent in the mild (HR=1.07; 95% CI, 1-1.15) and moderate to severe (HR=1.14; 95% CI, 1-1.3) NAFLD groups compared with the normal group (P<.001).

“In this study, for 5 years of follow-up, the incidence rate and risk of hypertension increased according to the degree of NAFLD (normal, mild, moderate to severe fatty liver),” Park told Healio.com. “Our findings could be an epidemiologic evidence sustaining the significant association between NAFLD and the development of hypertension.”

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.