Nonlinear Associations of Estimated Pulse Wave Velocity With Hepatic Steatosis and Liver Stiffness in Community-Based People

Figures

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  Figure 1. Study flowchart. The flowchart showed that the final analysis comprised 1,116 participants, among whom 613 patients had no MAFLD, 232 had light MAFLD, 202 had moderate MAFLD, 69 had severe MAFLD; 886 had no liver fibrosis, 172 had light liver fibrosis, 52 had moderate liver fibrosis, and six had severe liver fibrosis. MAFLD: metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease.

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  Figure 2. Association of ePWV and MAFLD in different subgroups. The forest plot displays the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between ePWV and MAFLD severity (light, moderate, and severe) across various clinical subgroups, adjusted for age, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, current smoker, sedentary time, dyslipidemia, hypertension, COPD, diabetes, DM/IGR, LSM, TC, TG, ALT, AST and hs-CRP. The vertical dashed line represents the unity line (OR = 1.0). Colored squares indicate point estimates: blue for light, red for moderate, and black for severe MAFLD. Horizontal lines represent the 95% CIs. P < 0.05 is considered statistically significant. Statistical significance (P < 0.05) is achieved when the 95% CI does not cross the unity line. Moderate MAFLD (red) demonstrated significant associations with higher ePWV in several strata (P < 0.05), while light (blue) and severe (black) groups generally showed similar positive trends without reaching statistical significance. MAFLD: metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease; ePWV: estimated pulse wave velocity; OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval; BMI: body mass index; LSM:…

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  Figure 3. Association of ePWV and liver fibrosis in different subgroups. The forest plot displays the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between ePWV and liver fibrosis severity (light, moderate, and severe) across various clinical subgroups, adjusted for age, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, dyslipidemia, hypertension, CHD, COPD, DM/IGR, UAP, TG, ALT and AST. The vertical dashed line represents the unity line (OR = 1.0). Colored squares indicate point estimates: blue for light, red for moderate, and black for severe liver fibrosis, respectively. Horizontal lines represent the 95% CIs. P < 0.05 is considered statistically significant. Statistical significance (P < 0.05) is achieved when the 95% CI does not cross the unity line. Moderate liver fibrosis (red) and light fibrosis (blue) frequently demonstrated significant associations with higher ePWV (P < 0.05), whereas severe fibrosis (black) showed consistent positive trends but lacked statistical significance. MAFLD: metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease; ePWV: estimated pulse wave velocity; BMI: body mass index; UAP: ultrasonic attenuation parameter; HBP: high blood…

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  Figure 4. Restricted cubic spline curves for the association between ePWV and MAFLD (a) or liver fibrosis (b). P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. (a) The figure presented with a reversed “U” shape curve (overall P < 0.001; nonlinearity P < 0.001) and the maximum of OR was showed when ePWV was 15.38 m/s (OR = 1.63; 95% CI, 1.23–2.17). (b) The slope gradually decreased as ePWV increased (overall P < 0.001; nonlinearity P = 0.013). ePWV: estimated pulse wave velocity; MAFLD: metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease; OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval.