TY - JOUR A1 - Lang, Sonja A1 - Martin, Anna A1 - Farowski, Fedja A1 - Wisplinghoff, Hilmar A1 - Vehreschild, Maria J. G. T. A1 - Liu, Jinyuan A1 - Krawczyk, Marcin A1 - Nowag, Angela A1 - Kretzschmar, Anne A1 - Herweg, Jens A1 - Schnabl, Bernd A1 - Tu, Xin M. A1 - Lammert, Frank A1 - Goeser, Tobias A1 - Tacke, Frank A1 - Heinzer, Kathrin A1 - Kasper, Philipp A1 - Steffen, Hans‐Michael A1 - Demir, Münevver T1 - High protein intake is associated with histological disease activity in patients with NAFLD T2 - Hepatology communications N2 - Overconsumption of carbohydrates and lipids are well known to cause nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), while the role of nutritional protein intake is less clear. In Western diet, meat and other animal products are the main protein source, with varying concentrations of specific amino acids. Whether the amount or composition of protein intake is associated with a higher risk for disease severity has not yet been examined. In this study, we investigated associations of dietary components with histological disease activity by analyzing detailed 14‐day food records in a cohort of 61 patients with biopsy‐proven NAFLD. Furthermore, we used 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing to detect associations with different abundances of the gut microbiota with dietary patterns. Patients with definite nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD activity score of 5‐8 on liver biopsy) had a significantly higher daily relative intake of protein compared with patients with a NAFLD activity score of 0‐4 (18.0% vs. 15.8% of daily protein‐based calories, P = 0.018). After adjustment for several potentially confounding factors, a higher protein intake (≥17.3% of daily protein‐based calories) remained associated with definite nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, with an odds ratio of 5.09 (95% confidence interval 1.22‐21.25, P = 0.026). This association was driven primarily by serine, glycine, arginine, proline, phenylalanine, and methionine. A higher protein intake correlated with a lower Bacteroides abundance and an altered abundance of several other bacterial taxa. Conclusion: A high protein intake was independently associated with more active and severe histological disease activity in patients with NAFLD. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential harmful role of dietary amino acids on NAFLD, with special attention to meat as their major source. Y1 - 2020 UR - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/57074 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-570749 SN - 0928-4346 VL - 4 IS - 5 SP - 681 EP - 695 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken, NJ ER -