Unraveling the Association Between Cheese Consumption and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Insights From a Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Analysis

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease globally, and diet plays a crucial role in its progression. While dietary fats impact NAFLD, the specific effect of cheese consumption remains unclear. This study employs a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to explore the causal relationship between cheese intake and NAFLD, liver fat content, and liver fat proportion. Using summary-level data from large genome-wide association studies, we applied a two-sample MR approach. Genetic variants linked to cheese consumption served as instrumental variables, selected under strict criteria, including genome-wide significance and exclusion of pleiotropy. Robustness was ensured through various MR methods, including Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW) and MR-Egger. MR analysis indicated that increased cheese consumption is negatively associated with NAFLD risk (OR = 0.589, 95% CI: 0.387–0.896, p = 0.014). This inverse relationship also extended to liver fat content (OR = 0.814, 95% CI: 0.689–0.960, p = 0.015) and liver fat proportion (OR = 0.830, 95% CI: 0.695–0.992, p = 0.04). No significant link was found between cheese intake and liver volume (OR = 0.976, 95% CI: 0.846–1.126, p = 0.737). Cheese intake may have a protective effect against NAFLD, potentially informing dietary management strategies. Further research is needed to confirm these findings across diverse populations.