Obesity drives the link between liver fat and depression: Cross‐sectional and prospective investigations
Authors' conclusion
The association between liver fat and depression is likely due to reverse causation and the confounding effect of BMI.
Study context
- Population
- UK Biobank participants with liver MRI; age 64.5 years, 51.4% females, 28.2% steatotic liver disease (SLD)33,762 in prospective analysis
- Participants
- 36,587 participants
- Exposure
- SLD vs no SLD
- Outcome
- Depression (self-reported diagnosis and hospital records)
Methodological detailsUK Biobank, MRI proton density fat fraction, logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models
- UK Biobank
- MRI proton density fat fraction
- Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Prevalent depression (cross-sectional)
SLD vs No SLDOdds ratio (CI)
Adjusted for age, sex and socioeconomic status
1.40(1.29–1.52)
After adjusting for BMI
1.12(1.01–1.23)
- Prevalent depression
- 2849 participants
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | HR (CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Incident depression (prospective) · median follow-up 4.5 yearsSLDvs No SLDBefore BMI adjustment | 1.27 (1.03–1.56) | |
| Incident depression (prospective) · median follow-up 4.5 yearsSLDvs No SLDAfter BMI adjustment; not significant | 0.93 (0.73–1.18) | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
- Incident depression (prospective) — New diagnosis of depression
- 414 people
- Incident depression (prospective) — Liver fat (per 5% increase), HR for depression risk
- 1.02 (0.92, 1.12)
- Incident depression (prospective): n = 33 762
Incident depression (prospective) · median follow-up 4.5 years
- No sex differences were identified
Original publication
Obesity drives the link between liver fat and depression: Cross‐sectional and prospective investigations. Diabetes Obes Metab. Published 24 June 2025. doi:10.
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