independent of other metabolic risk factors, a study has found.
The results of the case-control study of 70 individuals with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and 150 age- and gender-matched controls were published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. Using hepatic ultrasonography and transient elastography, the investigators found that 51 (72.9%) the participants with HS also had nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), compared with 37 (24.7%) of the controls (P less than .001).
Those with HS and NAFLD were more likely to be obese, have more central adiposity, and meet more of the criteria for metabolic syndrome than those with HS but without NAFLD. They also showed higher serum ALT levels, higher triglycerides, and higher controlled attenuation parameter scores, which is a surrogate marker of liver steatosis.
However, the HS plus NAFLD group had similar rates of active smoking, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular events, compared with those who had HS only. They also showed no differences in hemoglobin A1c, serum insulin, insulin resistance, or liver stiffness, compared with the HS-only group.
When researchers compared the participants with HS plus NAFLD with controls with NAFLD, they found the HS group had significantly higher levels of liver stiffness measurement, which is a surrogate marker of liver fibrosis and severity, but there were no differences in the degree of hepatic steatosis.
The individuals with HS plus NAFLD had significantly lower serum albumin, but significantly higher serum gamma–glutamyl transpeptidase and ferritin, compared with controls who had NAFLD. They were also more likely to have metabolic risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome.
The multivariate analysis also showed that male sex was a protective factor, because the prevalence of obesity was higher in women.
After adjusting for classic cardiovascular and steatosis risk factors, the researchers calculated that HS was a significant and independent risk factor for NAFLD, with an odds ratio of 7.75 (P less than .001). The results provide “the first evidence that patients with HS have a significant high prevalence of NAFLD, which is independent of classic metabolic risk factors and, according to our results, probably not related to the severity of the disease,” wrote Carlos Durán-Vian, MD, from the department of dermatology at the University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain, and coauthors.
“We think that our findings might have potential clinical implications, and physicians involved in the care of patients with HS should be aware of the link between this entity and NAFLD, in order to improve the overall management of these patients,” they wrote, noting that HS is often associated with the same metabolic disorders that can promote fatty liver disease, such as obesity and metabolic syndrome. But the discovery that it is an independent risk factor demands other hypotheses to explain the association between the two conditions.
“In this sense, a possible explanation to deeper understanding the link between HS and NAFLD could be the presence of chronic inflammation due to persistent and abnormal secretion of adipokines (i.e. adiponectin, leptin, resistin) and several proinflammatory cytokines,” the authors wrote, pointing out that NAFLD is also common among people with immune-mediated inflammatory disorders.
The study had the limitation of being an observational, cross-sectional design, and the authors acknowledged that the cohort was relatively small. They also were unable to use liver biopsies to confirm the NAFLD diagnosis.
No funding or conflicts of interest were reported.
SOURCE: Durán-Vian C et al. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2019 Jul 1. doi: 10.1111/jdv.15764.