Rubino Jessica M, Ring Natalie Yanzi, Patel Krishna, Xia Xiaoqing, MacKenzie Todd A, diFlorio-Alexander Roberta M
Radiology Department, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA.
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
Biomedicines. 2025 Jan 1;13(1):80. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13010080.
: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), previously known as the most common chronic liver disease, is soon to be the leading indication for liver transplantation; however, the diagnosis may remain occult for decades. There is a need for biomarkers that identify patients at risk for MASLD and patients at risk for disease progression to optimize patient management and outcomes. Lymph node adiposity (LNA) is a novel marker of adiposity identified within axillary lymph nodes on screening mammography. Recent studies have demonstrated a correlation between LNA and cardiometabolic disease and cardiovascular disease risk. This study aimed to investigate the association between MASLD and LNA to evaluate the potential of mammographic LNA to serve as an imaging biomarker of MASLD. : We identified women with pathology-proven MASLD who had a liver biopsy and a screening mammogram within 12 months of the liver biopsy. This resulted in a sample size of 161 women for final analysis that met the inclusion criteria. We evaluated lymph node adiposity through multiple measurements of the largest axillary lymph node visualized on mammography and correlated LNA with MASLD histology. Statistical analysis using univariable and multivariable logistic regression and odds ratios was performed using R version 4.1.0 (2021), the R Foundation for Statistical Computing Platform. : We found a significant association between MASLD and mammographic LNA, defined as lymph node (LN) length > 16 mm ( = 0.0004) that remained significant after adjusting for clinical factors, including body mass index (BMI). We additionally found a significant association between LNA and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), identified via liver biopsy ( = 0.0048). : Mammographic lymph node adiposity may serve as a helpful imaging biomarker of MASLD in women who have an elevated risk for the development of MASH.
代谢功能障碍相关脂肪性肝病(MASLD),以前被认为是最常见的慢性肝病,很快将成为肝移植的主要指征;然而,其诊断可能在数十年内都不明显。需要生物标志物来识别有MASLD风险的患者以及有疾病进展风险的患者,以优化患者管理和治疗结果。淋巴结肥胖(LNA)是在乳腺钼靶筛查中在腋窝淋巴结内发现的一种新的肥胖标志物。最近的研究表明LNA与心脏代谢疾病和心血管疾病风险之间存在关联。本研究旨在调查MASLD与LNA之间的关联,以评估乳腺钼靶LNA作为MASLD成像生物标志物的潜力。
我们确定了经病理证实患有MASLD且在肝活检后12个月内进行了肝活检和乳腺钼靶筛查的女性。这导致最终有161名女性符合纳入标准并进行分析。我们通过多次测量乳腺钼靶上可视化的最大腋窝淋巴结来评估淋巴结肥胖,并将LNA与MASLD组织学进行关联。使用R版本4.1.0(2021),即R统计计算基础平台,进行单变量和多变量逻辑回归及比值比的统计分析。
我们发现MASLD与乳腺钼靶LNA之间存在显著关联,定义为淋巴结(LN)长度> 16 mm(P = 0.0004),在调整包括体重指数(BMI)在内的临床因素后仍具有显著性。我们还发现LNA与通过肝活检确定的代谢功能障碍相关脂肪性肝炎(MASH)之间存在显著关联(P = 0.0048)。
乳腺钼靶淋巴结肥胖可能是有发生MASH高风险女性MASLD的一种有用的成像生物标志物。