Adiposity and Cumulative Cardiometabolic Risk Factors as Determinants of Hepatic Steatosis Severity in Postmenopausal Women.

Authors

Ifigeneia Avgousti, Areti Augoulea, Eleni Armeni, Dimitrios S Karagiannakis, Sofia Paraskevopoulou, Konstantinos Panoulis, Sofia Kalantaridou, Nektaria Papanikola, Anastasia Angelopoulou, George Papatheodoridis, Makarios Eleftheriadis, Irene Lambrinoudaki

Published in

Journal of clinical medicine. Volume 15. Issue 15. Aug 05, 2026. Epub Aug 05, 2026.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Postmenopausal women are at increased risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). This study evaluated the associations of anthropometric and hormonal parameters and cardiometabolic risk-factor accumulation with steatosis and MASLD. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 87 postmenopausal women at a university menopause clinic underwent anthropometric, biochemical, and liver imaging assessment. Hepatic steatosis was defined as CAP ≥ 248 dB/m on transient elastography, and MASLD as steatosis with ≥1 cardiometabolic risk factor (2023 consensus criteria). Anthropometry included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, mid-upper arm circumference, and triceps skinfold thickness. Results: CAP-defined steatosis (46.0%) closely mirrored MASLD (44.8%; all but one steatotic woman met ≥ 1 criterion). Waist circumference independently correlated with steatosis (OR = 2.77, 95% CI 1.08-7.13, p = 0.035), adding value beyond BMI (Nagelkerke R² 0.202 vs. 0.140). Steatosis burden rose progressively with risk-factor number: each additional factor conferred a 30.59 dB/m CAP increase (95% CI 17.33-43.85, p < 0.001) and 3.38-fold higher odds of steatosis (95% CI 1.59-7.20, p = 0.002; ≥3 vs. 2 factors, Welch's p = 0.004). Conclusions: MASLD and CAP-defined steatosis were largely coincident. Adiposity correlated with steatosis, but severity was determined chiefly by the accumulation of cardiometabolic risk factors, which is a key determinant of steatotic liver disease severity after menopause.

PMID:
42590200
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.