Mediterranean diet is associated with liver histology in patients with non alcoholic fatty liver disease

Background: clinical data on impact of the Mediterranean diet on the the stage of non alcoholic fatty liver disease are limited and these studies have heterogeneous designs. Aim: we decide to explore any potential associations between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and histological characteristics of patients with NAFLD. Methods: a sample of 82 patients was analyzed in a cross sectional study. To evaluate the level of adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern the 14-Item Mediterranean Diet Assessment Tool was used. Results: thirty five patients (42.7%) had a low grade of steatosis (grade 1 of classification) and 47 patients (57.3%) had a high grade of steatosis (grade 2 and 3). Fifty-six patients (68.3%) had liver steatohepatitis and forty-two patients (51.2%) had liver fibrosis. In the logistic regresion analysis, one unit of the 14-Item Mediterranean Diet Assessment Tool was associated with a lower likehood of having steatohepatitis odds ratio 0.43 (CI:95 %: 0.29-0.64) and steatosis 0.42 (CI:95 % : 0.26-0.70). Secondly, one unit of HOMA-IR was associated with higher likehood of having steatosis odds ratio 2.01 (CI:95 % : 1.08-3.71) and liver fibrosis 1.38 (CI:95 % : 1.10-1.80). Conclusions: greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with lower likelihood of high grade of steatosis and presence of steatohepatitis.