Association between handgrip strength, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, advanced hepatic fibrosis and its modifiers: evidence from the NHANES database of the US.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and advanced hepatic fibrosis (AHF) have been associated with sarcopenia. However, modifiers of this association have been less studied.

METHODS: This study used data from the NHANES database 2011-2014 of the US. Adults aged 18 years or older, had complete information of handgrip strength test and NAFLD and AHF status were eligible for inclusion. NAFLD was defined using the Fatty Liver Index (FLI). AHF was defined using the NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to determine the associations between the study variables and prevalent NAFLD and AHF.

RESULTS: A total of 19,931 participants were selected from the 2011-2014 NHANES database. The multivariate analysis showed that stronger grip strength was significantly and independently associated with decreased odds for NAFLD (tertile2: aOR:0.41, 95% CI:0.29-0.59; tertile3: aOR:0.11, 95% CI:0.05-0.24) and AHF (tertile2: aOR:0.66, 95% CI:0.46-0.94; tertile3: aOR:0.28, 95% CI:0.12-0.63). In stratified analyses, strongest grip strength was significantly associated with reduced odds for NAFLD regardless of age, BMI, and having diabetes or not. Strongest grip strength was associated with reduced odds for NAFLD in individuals who had moderate to ideal physical activity (aOR: 0.31).

CONCLUSIONS: Grip strength has an inverse association with prevalent NAFLD and AHF in the US population, which apears to be modified by physical activity level. Future prospective cohort studies are needed to clarify the role of physical activity in modifying the risks.