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©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2020; 26(20): 2669-2681
Published online May 28, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i20.2669
Published online May 28, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i20.2669
Association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and obstructive sleep apnea
Ilaria Umbro, Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic Medicine and Orthopedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161, Italy
Valerio Fabiani, Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00123, Italy
Mario Fabiani, Department of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161, Italy
Francesco Angelico, Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161, Italy
Maria Del Ben, Department of Clinical, Internal, Anesthetic and Cardiovascular Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161, Italy
Author contributions: Umbro I wrote the paper; Umbro I and Fabiani V collected and analyzed data; Umbro I, Fabiani V, Fabiani M, Angelico F and Del Ben M designed the study, critically reviewed and approved the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ilaria Umbro, MD, Doctor, Research Fellow, Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic Medicine and Orthopedics Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Alfonso Borelli 50, Rome 00161, Italy. ilaria.umbro@uniroma1.it
Received: January 27, 2020
Peer-review started: January 27, 2020
First decision: March 6, 2020
Revised: March 26, 2020
Accepted: May 15, 2020
Article in press: May 15, 2020
Published online: May 28, 2020
Peer-review started: January 27, 2020
First decision: March 6, 2020
Revised: March 26, 2020
Accepted: May 15, 2020
Article in press: May 15, 2020
Published online: May 28, 2020
Core Tip
Core tip: The development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) seems to be closely associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) even in the absence of coexisting comorbidities such as obesity or metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, the severity of NAFLD is associated with the increase in OSA severity. Effective continuous positive airway pressure therapy for OSA may improve serum aminotransferase levels and liver steatosis. As clinicians, our aim should be to screen OSA patients for NAFLD and vice versa those with NAFLD for OSA in order to early and better treat them before the development of potentially life threatening systemic dysfunctions.