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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Hepatobiliary Diseases
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1539283

Impact of Hypertension on Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease

Provisionally accepted
Zhifeng Gao Zhifeng Gao 1Huan Deng Huan Deng 2Bowen Qin Bowen Qin 2Liang Bai Liang Bai 1Jiangwei Li Jiangwei Li 1Jian Zhang Jian Zhang 1*
  • 1 Department of General Surgery Unit-4, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
  • 2 National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Biodiagnosis and Biotherapy, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: This study aims to evaluate the association between hypertension and the risk of fibrosis in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) patients, as well as to investigate the impact of hypertension on the progression of liver fibrosis within this population.We utilized data from the NHANES 2017 to March 2020. Multivariate logistic regression models were employed to control for sociodemographic and metabolic factors to determine the associations between hypertension, MASLD, and fibrosis.Results: Of the total cohort (N=5,967) 57.92% had hypertension, 38.8% had MASLD, 25.88% had both MASLD and hypertension. Patients with MASLD were more likely to have hypertension (64.24% vs. 44.80%). There was a significant association between stage I (OR1.70, 95% CI: 1.15-2.53) and stage II hypertension (OR1.98, 95% CI: 1.38-2.85) and an increased risk of SF. After adjusting for multiple confounding factors, stage I (OR1.59, 95% CI:1.09-2.24) and stage II hypertension (OR1.48, 95% CI:1.06-2.06) remained significantly associated with the risk of SF. Patients with both MASLD and hypertension had higher rates of SF at 14.83% and AF at 7.47%. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, those patients still had an 8.02-fold increased risk of SF (OR8.02, 95% CI:4.47-14.39) and a 15.13-fold increased risk of AF (OR15.13, 95% CI:7.09-32.3). Further adjustment for metabolic factors, those patients still had a significantly higher risk of SF (OR3.07, 95% CI:1.83-5.14) and AF (OR4.01, 95% CI:1.48-10.89).Conclusions: MASLD and hypertension are at risk for fibrosis, and the coexistence of the two has a more significant impact on the risk of fibrosis.

    Keywords: Hypertension, Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, Significant fibrosis, Advanced fibrosis, Association

    Received: 12 Dec 2024; Accepted: 07 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Deng, Qin, Bai, Li and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jian Zhang, Department of General Surgery Unit-4, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China

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