Cigarette Smoking and Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

The term "non-alcoholic fatty liver disease" refers to the condition in which NAFLD progresses to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver failure (NAFLD).(1) NAFLD is the most common chronic liver disease which includes a wide range of medical conditions from simple steatosis to hepatic fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).(2,3) Several studies show that smoking is also associated with liver diseases such as neoplasm of liver and chronic liver disease.(4-6) Basic and clinical research indicates that smoking affects some of the physiological pathways in the liver.(7) However, The relationship between NAFLD and smoking continues to be a source of contention. A study reported that active smoking was related to fibrosis in patients with NAFLD (8), while another study expresses a lack of significant relationships between active smoking and NAFLD.(9) Furthermore, due to the high prevalence of smoking in several groups as well as the impact of NAFLD in the progression of chronic liver disease, this study was conducted to investigate the association between smoking and NAFLD.