Abstract 5955: Association of dietary patterns and liver steatosis and fibrosis among Mexican Americans in NHANES 2017-2018
Authors: Morrill Kristin E. , Lopez-Pentecost Melissa , Parker Joel , Garcia David O. , Jacobs Elizabeth T. 
Published: June 2022

Background: Mexican Americans (MAs) have the highest rates of liver steatosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and liver cancer compared to other Hispanic subpopulations, non-Hispanic Whites, and non-Hispanic Blacks. While some diet patterns have been identified to increase or decrease risk of liver steatosis and fibrosis, no research to our knowledge has identified diet patterns associated with these outcomes in MAs. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between dietary patterns derived from factor analysis and liver steatosis and fibrosis in a nationally representative sample of MAs.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of participant data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-2018. Participants were adults who identified as MA who were not pregnant or breastfeeding and had no previous diagnosis of hepatitis A or B, cirrhosis, or liver cancer. Dietary patterns were derived by exploratory factor analysis of 24-hr dietary recall data. Individuals who completed only one recall, had unreliable dietary data, or reported an average caloric intake &lt; 500 kcals/day or &gt; 4,000 kcals/day were excluded. Elastography measurements were obtained from eligible participants in a fasting state using the Fibroscan® which provided measures of liver steatosis as controlled attenuation parameter and liver stiffness, a validated proxy for fibrosis. The associations of each derived dietary pattern with liver steatosis and fibrosis were evaluated in multivariate linear regression models controlling for body mass index (BMI), sex, age, average total caloric intake, sedentary time, household income, diabetes status, and smoking status.

Results: The final analytic sample consisted of 633 MA adults with a mean age of 37.7 ± 0.3 years and mean BMI of 31.0 ± 1.1 kg/m2. Five factors (i.e. diet patterns) were derived accounting for 86% of the variation prior to rotation. Factor 4, characterized by relatively high intake of nuts, seeds, and oils was significantly associated with decreased levels of liver steatosis in two of the three models but not the fully-adjusted model. Factor 4 was also significantly associated with decreased fibrosis in all three models, including the fully-adjusted model (p=0.05). Factor 2, characterized by relatively high intake of milk and dairy, was significantly associated with increased levels of liver steatosis in two of the three models, including the fully-adjusted model (p=0.03). Conclusion: In a large, nationally representative sample of MA adults, we identified diet patterns associated with levels of liver fibrosis and steatosis in an exploratory analysis. Future research should investigate the association of dietary patterns in larger samples to inform interventions to reduce liver disease risk in MAs.

Citation Format: Kristin E. Morrill, Melissa Lopez-Pentecost, Joel Parker, David O. Garcia, Elizabeth T. Jacobs. Association of dietary patterns and liver steatosis and fibrosis among Mexican Americans in NHANES 2017-2018 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 5955.