Consumption of Preserved Egg Is Associated with Modestly Increased Risk of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Chinese Adults.

Background: Although preserved egg is a traditional Chinese delicacy widely consumed in China and Southeast Asian countries, whether habitual preserved egg consumption is associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains unknown.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the association between preserved egg consumption and risk of NAFLD in a cohort of Chinese adults.

Methods: This prospective cohort study included 15,883 participants aged 19-88 y (58% women) from the TCLSIH (Tianjin Chronic Low-grade Systemic Inflammation and Health) cohort study who were free of liver diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular disease at baseline. Preserved egg consumption was assessed using an FFQ at baseline. NAFLD was diagnosed by transabdominal sonography during an annual health examination. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to calculate HRs and 95% CIs across categories of preserved egg consumption.

Results: During 56,002 person-years of follow-up, 3683 first incident cases of NAFLD were recorded. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle risk factors, total energy intake, egg intake, and eating patterns, the multivariable HRs (95% CIs) of incident NAFLD according to categories of preserved egg consumption were 1.00 (reference) for never, 1.05 (0.98, 1.14) for <1 time/wk, 1.09 (0.96, 1.24) for 1 time/wk, and 1.26 (1.09, 1.46) for ≥2 times/wk (P-trend < 0.01). The results were robust to a series of sensitivity analyses.

Conclusions: Habitual preserved egg consumption is associated with a modestly higher risk of NAFLD among the Chinese adult population. The mechanism underlying this association warrants further research.This trial was registered at www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/ as UMIN000027174.