Prevalence, predictors, and severity of lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients living with human immunodeficiency virus

Background. The burden of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is growing in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). NAFLD is associated with obesity; however, it can occur in normoweight (lean) patients. We aimed to investigate lean NAFLD in patients living with HIV. Methods. We included patients living with HIV mono-infection from 3 prospective cohorts. NAFLD was diagnosed by transient elastography (TE) and defined as controlled attenuation parameter ≥248 dB/m, in absence of alcohol abuse. Lean NAFLD was defined when a body mass index was <25 kg/m2. Significant liver fibrosis was defined as TE ≥7.1 kPa. The presence of diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia defined metabolically abnormal patients. Results. We included 1511 patients, of whom 57.4% were lean. The prevalence of lean NAFLD patients in the whole cohort was 13.9%. NAFLD affected 24.2% of lean patients. The proportions of lean NAFLD patients who were metabolically abnormal or had elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were higher than among those who were lean patients without NAFLD (61.9% vs 48.9% and 36.7% vs 24.2%, respectively). Lean NAFLD patients had a higher prevalence of significant liver fibrosis than lean patients without NAFLD (15.7% vs 7.6%, respectively). After adjusting for sex, ethnicity, hypertension, CD4 cell count, nadir CD4 <200µ/L, and time since HIV diagnosis, predictors of NAFLD in lean patients were age (adjusted OR [aOR], 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–1.59), high triglycerides (aOR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.11–1.63), and high ALT (aOR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.05–1.26), while a high level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was protective (aOR, 0.45; 95% CI, .26–.77). Conclusions. NAFLD affects 1 in 4 lean patients living with HIV mono-infection. Investigations for NAFLD should be proposed in older patients with dyslipidemia and elevated ALT, even if normoweight.