Trends in Oxidative Balance Score and Prevalence of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001 to 2018

Abstract

Background: Most studies have primarily focused on assessing the association between diet or exercise patterns and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). This study adopted a more comprehensive approach by introducing the oxidative balance score (OBS) to evaluate the combined effects of diet and lifestyle on the body’s antioxidant ability. Our main objective was to investigate the association between OBS and the burden of MASLD in the United States. Methods: Participants with complete information from 2001 to 2018 were included. In the absence of other definite liver injury factors, the United States fatty liver index (us-FLI) ≥ 30 was used as the diagnostic criterion for MASLD. We first calculated the weighted prevalence for each cycle and stratified it according to demographic and metabolic-related disease characteristics. Subsequently, weighted multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between OBS and MASLD. In addition, we explored the body’s inflammatory state and the level of insulin resistance (IR) in mediating OBS and MASLD. Results: From 2001 to 2018, the prevalence of MASLD in the U.S. population as a whole increased from 29.76% to 36.04%, and the rate was higher in people with metabolic-related diseases. Notably, OBS exhibited a negative correlation with MASLD. Participants in the highest tertile of OBS had a significantly lower prevalence of MASLD compared to those in the lowest tertile [OR: 0.72, 95%CI: (0.57, 0.92), p < 0.001]. Moreover, a high OBS is associated with a lower inflammatory state and level of IR. The body’s inflammatory state and IR level mediated the association between OBS and MASLD by 5.2% and 39.7%, respectively (both p < 0.001). Conclusions: In this study, we observed an increasing prevalence of MASLD over the years. A higher OBS was associated with a lower risk of MASLD, especially when OBS ≥ 25. The body’s inflammatory state and IR level mediate the association between OBS and MASLD, but the mechanism needs to be further investigated.