Author information
1
Institute of Cellular Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
2
Liver Unit, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
3
Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University and Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata of Verona, Verona, Italy.
4
Department of Internal Medicine I, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Metabolism, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
5
Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University and Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata of Verona, Verona, Italy. giovanni.targher@univr.it.
Abstract
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common, progressive liver disease that affects up to one-quarter of the adult population worldwide. The clinical and economic burden of NAFLD is mainly due to liver-related morbidity and mortality (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma) and an increased risk of developing fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and certain types of extrahepatic cancers (for example, colorectal cancer and breast cancer). Additionally, there is now accumulating evidence that NAFLD adversely affects not only the coronary arteries (promoting accelerated coronary atherosclerosis) but also all other anatomical structures of the heart, conferring an increased risk of cardiomyopathy (mainly left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and hypertrophy, leading to the development of congestive heart failure), cardiac valvular calcification (mainly aortic-valve sclerosis), cardiac arrhythmias (mainly atrial fibrillation) and some cardiac conduction defects. This Review focuses on the association between NAFLD and non-ischaemia-related cardiac disease, discusses the putative pathophysiological mechanisms and briefly summarizes current treatment options for NAFLD that might also beneficially affect cardiac disease.