Associations between exposure to ambient particulate matter and advanced liver fibrosis in Chinese MAFLD patients.

Background & Aims: Liver fibrosis is an important feature in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). This study aimed to explore the association between long-term ambient particulate matter (PM) exposure and advanced liver fibrosis (ALF) in MAFLD participants.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 23170 adults recruited from 33 provinces of China from 2010 to 2020. ALF was detected using the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score (NFS). The annual average levels of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters of ≤ 1 µm (PM), ≤ 2.5 µm (PM) and ≤ 10 µm (PM) were calculated using validated spatiotemporal models. Generalized additive models were applied to analyze the association between PM and ALF in patients with MAFLD.

Results: One-year exposure to higher levels of all PM was found to increase the risk of ALF, with odds ratios (ORs) of 1.10 (95% CI 1.06-1.14), 1.05 (1.03-1.07), and 1.03(1.02-1.04) for each 10 μg/m increase in PM, PM and PM, respectively. With the dissection of the impact of PM in PM, PM in PM and PM in PM, we found that PM had a stronger impact on ALF (both P＜0.05) in comparison with PM and PM.

Conclusions: Long-term exposure to PM is associated with ALF in patients with MAFLD, with PM playing a dominant role.