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DOI: 10.2337/dc07-0109
© 2007 by the American Diabetes Association
Online Letters: Observations |
Plasma PAI-1 Levels Are Increased in Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis
1 Division of Internal Medicine, Sacro Cuore Hospital, Negrar, Italy
2 Section of Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical and Surgical Sciences, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy
3 Section of Clinical Chemistry, Department of Biomedical and Morphological Sciences, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy
4 Service of Immunohematology and Transfusion, Civil Hospital, Verona, Italy
Address correspondence to Dr. Giovanni Targher, Division of Internal Medicine and Diabetes Unit, Ospedale "Sacro Cuore –don Calabria", Via Sempreboni, 5, 37024 Negrar (VR), Italy. E-mail: targher{at}sacrocuore.it
Recent data suggest that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is linked to increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk independently of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) (1–7), although the possible molecular mediators linking NAFLD and CVD are poorly known (8).
Increased plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) concentrations, responsible for reduced fibrinolytic activity, play a key role in atherothrombosis (9). Since limited information is available about the relations among NAFLD, MetS, and PAI-1, we assessed whether PAI-1 correlates with liver histopathology among NAFLD patients independent of MetS features.
Plasma PAI-1 activity concentrations (Spectrolyse/PL; Biopool) were measured in 85 consecutive NAFLD outpatients (50/35 male/female, mean ± SD age 45 ± 2 years, and BMI 26.1 ± 2 kg/m2) and 160 age-, sex-, and BMI-matched healthy control subjects. An experienced hepatopathologist blinded to subjects' details scored liver biopsy specimens (10). More details of study design and patients’ characteristics have been published elsewhere (7).
Liver histopathology in NAFLD patients showed steatosis alone in 16 subjects, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with fibrosis stage 0 in 23 subjects, NASH/fibrosis stage 1 in 25 subjects, NASH/fibrosis stage 2 in 13 subjects, and NASH/fibrosis stage 3 in 8 subjects. No subjects had cirrhosis.
MetS, as defined by the Adult Treatment Panel III, and its individual components occurred more frequently in NAFLD patients than in control subjects. These patients also had higher values of homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and liver enzymes. Age, sex, BMI, smoking, and LDL cholesterol levels did not differ between the groups. PAI-1 was markedly different among the groups; the lowest levels were in control subjects, the intermediate levels in patients with simple steatosis (n = 16), and the highest levels in those with NASH (n = 69) (11.3 ± 5 vs. 16.5 ± 10 vs. 25 ± 16 AU/ml, respectively; P < 0.001). Almost identical results were found after excluding patients with the MetS or diabetes (n = 43). Notably, there was a positive, graded relationship between NASH/fibrosis stages and PAI-1 independent of age, sex, BMI, smoking, LDL cholesterol levels, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, and MetS components. Concordantly, in multivariate regression analysis, increasing NASH/fibrosis stage significantly predicted PAI-1 after controlling for potential confounders.
Our findings suggest that NAFLD is associated with increased PAI-1, that NASH patients have higher PAI-1 than those with simple steatosis, and that the severity of NAFLD histology predicts PAI-1 independently of a broad spectrum of potential confounders.
Although the increased PAI-1 levels found in NAFLD might simply reflect the coexistence of underlying MetS abnormalities, we believe that our observation—that the relationship of PAI-1 with the severity of NAFLD histology is independent of insulin resistance and MetS components—provides strong evidence for a direct role of the fatty liver in the increase in circulating PAI-1 concentrations. Also highly accordant with this hypothesis are recent findings in mice suggesting that PAI-1 levels are more closely related to fat accumulation and PAI-1 expression in the liver than in adipose tissue (11).
Overall, these findings extend the results of our two small studies, in which NAFLD diagnosis was based on ultrasound imaging (12,13), giving further support to the hypothesis that NAFLD is associated with a reduced fibrinolytic activity. Moreover, although it is not possible to draw conclusions about causality in our cross-sectional study, these findings suggest a possible biological mechanism by which NAFLD might contribute to CVD pathogenesis.
References
- Targher G, Bertolini L, Poli F, Rodella S, Scala L, Tessari R, Zenari L, Falezza G: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and risk of future cardiovascular events among type 2 diabetic patients. Diabetes 54:3541–3546, 2005
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Targher G, Bertolini L, Padovani R, Poli F, Scala L, Tessari R, Zenari L, Falezza G: Increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease among type 2 diabetic patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Diabet Med 23:403–409, 2006[Medline]
- Targher G, Bertolini L, Padovani R, Rodella S, Tessari R, Zenari L, Day C, Arcaro G: Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and its association with cardiovascular disease among type 2 diabetic patients. Diabetes Care 30:1212–1218, 2007
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Schindhelm RK, Dekker JM, Nijpels G, Bouter LM, Stehouwer CD, Heine RJ, Diamant M: Alanine aminotransferase predicts coronary heart disease events: a 10-year follow-up of the Hoorn Study. Atherosclerosis 191:391–396, 2007[Medline]
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[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Targher G: Mini-review: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the metabolic syndrome and the risk of cardiovascular disease: the plot thickens. Diabet Med 24:1–6, 2007[Medline]
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- Brunt EM, Janney CG, Di Bisceglie AM, Neuschwander-Tetri BA, Bacon BR: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: a proposal for grading and staging the histological lesions. Am J Gastroenterol 94:2467–2474, 1999[Medline]
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[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Cigolini M, Targher G, Agostino G, Tonoli M, Muggeo M, De Sandre G: Liver steatosis and its relation to plasma haemostatic factors in apparently healthy males: role of the metabolic syndrome. Thromb Haemostas 76:69–73, 1996[Medline]
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