Organ meat consumption and risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: the Tianjin Chronic Low-grade Systemic Inflammation and Health cohort study

Prospective cohort studies linking organ meat consumption and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are limited, especially in Asian populations. This study aimed to prospectively investigate the association between organ meat consumption and risk of NAFLD in a general Chinese adult population. This prospective cohort study included a total of 15 568 adults who were free of liver disease, CVD and cancer at baseline. Dietary information was collected at baseline using a validated FFQ. NAFLD was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasound after excluding other causes related to chronic liver disease. Cox proportional regression models were used to assess the association between organ meat consumption and risk of NAFLD. During a median of 4 center dot 2 years of follow-up, we identified 3604 incident NAFLD cases. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, vegetable, fruit, soft drink, seafood and red meat consumption, the multivariable hazard ratios (95 % CI) for incident NAFLD across consumption of organ meat were 1 center dot 00 (reference) for almost never, 1 center dot 04 (0 center dot 94, 1 center dot 15) for tertile 1, 1 center dot 08 (0 center dot 99, 1 center dot 19) for tertile 2 and 1 center dot 11 (1 center dot 01, 1 center dot 22) for tertile 3, respectively (P-for trend < 0 center dot 05). Such association did not differ substantially in the sensitivity analysis. Our study indicates that organ meat consumption was related to a modestly higher risk of NAFLD among Chinese adults. Further investigations are needed to confirm this finding.

Automated summary

This prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the association between organ meat consumption and risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a general Chinese adult population. The study found that organ meat consumption was related to a modestly higher risk of NAFLD among Chinese adults.