Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Mental health disorders and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) represent substantial global public health challenges. The precise relationship between mental health parameters and MASLD development remains poorly characterized. Using data from the UK Biobank cohort, we conducted a prospective cohort study to evaluate participants’ anxiety, depression, mania, and trauma exposure scores using standardized psychometric instruments. Metabolic signatures were derived through elastic net regularization coupled with Cox proportional hazards modeling. Mediation analyses quantified the proportion of mental health-MASLD associations attributable to metabolic pathway alterations. The analytical cohort comprises 55,012 participants with trauma assessments, 15,318 with mania evaluations, 30,798 with depression metrics, and 17,596 with anxiety profiles. Multivariable-adjusted analyses reveal significant dose-response relationships between mental health burden and MASLD incidence: anxiety (HR = 1.13, 95%CI 1.08–1.18, P < 0.05), depression (HR = 1.06, 95%CI 1.03–1.10, P < 0.05), mania (HR = 1.15, 95%CI 1.06–1.24, P < 0.05), and trauma (HR = 1.22, 95%CI 1.11–1.34, P < 0.05). Metabolic analyses indicate that creatinine, glutamine, and the triglyceride fraction of very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL-triglyceride%) serve as key mediators in the pathway through which mental health influences MASLD incidence. The derived metabolic signature demonstrates significant mediation effects across all psychological domains (anxiety: 12.7%, depression: 15.7%, mania: 11.5%, trauma: 11.2%). This large-scale cohort study establishes clinically significant mental health conditions as risk factors for MASLD development, with metabolic dysregulation serving as a partial mediator of this association. The identified metabolite panel, particularly perturbations in nitrogen metabolism and lipid partitioning, provides mechanistic insights into psychosomatic pathways influencing hepatic steatosis, suggesting potential targets for interdisciplinary intervention strategies. This study explored whether common mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, mania, and trauma can increase the risk of developing a common liver condition called MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease). We used information about mental health and blood samples from over 50,000 UK adults. People with poor mental health had a greater risk of developing MASLD. Differences in components of their blood that are known to play a role in metabolism were found in these people. These findings suggest that supporting mental health could also benefit liver health, highlighting the need for integrated care approaches that address both mind and body health. Yang et al. conduct a prospective cohort study to investigate the association between mental health and the risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Anxiety, depression, mania, and trauma increase MASLD risk with metabolites related to nitrogen and lipid metabolism partially mediating this association.
Source: Communications Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,690
OpenAlex ID: W7117372122