association between tumor necrosis factor-α and the risk of hepatic events: a median 3 years follow-up study

Background: tumor necrosis factor-α (tnf-α) is thought to be involved in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (nafld). however, it is still undetermined whether tnf-α is a significant indicator of major adverse hepatic events (mahe). methods: a total of 279 participants with tnf-α data were enrolled and assigned into three different groups based on the serum tnf-α level. the severity of nafld was evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging to determine liver proton density fat fraction. the association between tnf-α and mahe as well as the association between tnf-α and all-cause death were evaluated with the risk-djusted cox proportional-hazards model. results: compared with those in the lowest tertile, participants with highest tnf-α level displayed higher serious hepatic events or burden. after a median 3 years follow-up period, participants with highest tnf-α had a higher risk of mahe (hr 1.74, 95% ci 1.05 - 1.93, p < 0.001) and all-cause death rates (hr 2.63, 95% ci 1.89 - 3.35, p < 0.001) than those with low tnf-α level subjects. conclusions: patients with high level of tnf-α have increased the burden of nafld and higher mahe risk compared to patients with low level of tnf-α.