Blood vessel aging linked to liver scarring risk in adults
In 378 adults with fatty liver disease, the association was stronger below a metabolic burden score of about 800 and weaker above it.
Limit: Calculated estimates replaced direct measurements of artery stiffness and liver scarring
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational cohort analysis examined 378 adults with steatotic liver disease, a condition involving excess liver fat, whose average age was 55.9 years. Researchers assessed blood vessel aging using a cardiovascular risk score and estimated pulse wave velocity, a measure of how quickly pressure waves travel through arteries. They used a calculated score to assess liver-scarring risk and another index combining blood fats, blood sugar and waist size to assess metabolic burden.
Greater estimated blood vessel aging was associated with higher liver-scarring risk after adjustment for other factors. Metabolic burden modified that link. The association was stronger below a metabolic index score of about 800 and weaker above it, among people with severe metabolic dysfunction.
Why it matters
The findings suggest a possible window for studying whether targeting age-related blood vessel stiffness could help prevent liver scarring before severe metabolic dysfunction develops.
Caveats
The analysis relied on calculated estimates rather than direct measurements of artery stiffness or liver scarring. This conference abstract reported observational associations, not evidence that blood vessel aging caused scarring or that targeting stiffness would prevent it.
- Steatotic liver disease
- Estimated pulse wave velocity
- Metabolic dysfunction
- Hepatic fibrosis
- FIB-4
- Humans
The paper
Taipei Veterans General Hospital
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
