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MDPI, Nutrients, 6(14), p. 1209, 2022

DOI: 10.3390/nu14061209

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High Compliance to Mediterranean Diet Associates with Lower Platelet Activation and Liver Collagen Deposition in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

The Mediterranean diet (Med-Diet) is considered the most effective dietary patterns to obtain weight loss in NAFLD patients. Previous evidence suggested that Med-Diet adherence could reduce cardiovascular risk and have a beneficial effect on NAFLD severity. Aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between Med-Diet adherence, platelet activation (PA), and liver collagen deposition. The study was performed in 655 consecutive NAFLD outpatients from the PLINIO study, a prospective observational cohort study aimed to identify non-conventional predictors of liver fibrosis progression in NAFLD. PA was measured by the serum thromboxane B2 (TxB2), and liver collagen deposition by N-terminal propeptide of type III collagen (Pro-C3). Adherence to the Med-diet was investigated by a short nine-item validated dietary questionnaire. Patients with high Med-Diet adherence were older and had less metabolic syndrome and lower serum triglycerides, GGT, TxB2, and Pro-C3. At multivariate regression analyses, in the linear model, the Med-Diet score negatively correlated with both TxB2 (Beta = −0.106; p = 0.009) and Pro-C3 (Beta = −0.121; p = 0.002) and in the logistic model high adherence inversely correlated with higher TxB2 tertiles (II tertile: OR = 0.576, p = 0.044; III tertile: OR = 0.556, p = 0.026) and Pro-C3 tertile (III tertile: OR = 0.488, p = 0.013). Low consumption of red meat inversely correlated with higher TxB2 tertile (II tertile: OR = 0.448, p < 0.001, III tertile: OR = 0.567, p = 0.004). In conclusion, NAFLD patients with high adherence to the Med-Diet show lower PA and liver collagen deposition, suggesting a protective role of the Med-Diet against NAFLD progression and cardiovascular risk. In addition, the correlation between TxB2 and Pro-C3 suggests a link between NAFLD severity and cardiovascular risk.