Severe myosteatosis is considerably linked with fibrosis advancement and early nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in early stage nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), as elucidated from a study issued in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Researchers aimed to explore the link of myosteatosis with NASH and fibrosis in NAFLD people.

From a prospective biopsy-proven NAFLD cohort (n = 338), people with NAFLD or early NASH without significant fibrosis were chosen. Utilizing abdominal fat computed tomography at 3rd lumbar vertebra level, estimation of skeletal muscle index and mean muscle attenuation was done. The lowest quartile of sex-stratified muscle attenuation values was characterized as severe myosteatosis.

People with early NASH exhibited reduced muscle attenuation when compared to people with NAFL but a comparable skeletal muscle index. The prevalence of severe myosteatosis was greater in early NASH when compared to NAFL, as shown in Table 1:

People having more severe lobular inflammation and hepatocellular ballooning exhibited reduced muscle attenuation. People having severe myosteatosis were more vulnerable to early NASH in multivariable assessment adjusted for metabolic factors, age, and gender. This was maintained following adjustment for the amount of visceral fat.

A total of 170 people underwent repeated transient elastography during the median 29-month follow-up. Fibrosis advancement-a rise in liver stiffness estimation >2 kPa or second liver stiffness estimation ≥7 kPa-was noted in 28 and 31 people. After adjusting for different confounders, severe myosteatosis was substantially related to fibrosis advancement.