ASA and NAFLD

ACG: Regular aspirin use may be associated with reduced risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

as presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting.

Researchers at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, N.Y., have found that regular aspirin use (>/=15 times/month) may be associated with a lower prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), primarily among men and older patients. The first-in-humans study was presented at ACG, held in October in Philadelphia. 

To investigate an association between aspirin use and NAFLD prevalence in a general United States population, the investigators conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). They included 11,416 adults aged 20-74 years who underwent ultrasonography; of those, 2889 were identified as having NAFLD and 8527 as controls. Aspirin use during the month prior to interview was categorized as never use (0 times), occasional use (1-14 times), and regular use (>/=15 times). 

In the multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis, regular aspirin use was found to be associated with low prevalence of NAFLD (odds ratio [OR] 0.62). Among males, the prevalence of NAFLD was decreased by both occasional and regular aspirin use (OR 0.58 and 0.32, respectively). (There was no significant association among females.) Further, the occasional and regular aspirin use was inversely associated with NAFLD among patients over age 60 years (OR 0.74 and 0.21, respectively) but not among the younger patients.