Certain studies have shown that an association might exists between early menopause and the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), however the result of these researches is still controversial.

The current study included 4354 postmenopausal women who participated in the 2010-2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. These subjects were categorized as early, normal, and late menopause with age at menopause <45 years, 45-54 years, and ≥55 years, respectively. NAFLD was typified by a hepatic steatosis index of >36.

The results declared that early or late menopausal women did not show any remarkable differences in the odds ratios (ORs) of NAFLD: OR = 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.83-1.32 and OR = 1.02, 95% CI, 0.75-1.39, respectively in contrast to normal menopausal women, which remained same after adjustment for known risk factors for NAFLD, reproductive factors, and comorbidities. The OR for NAFLD per 1-year increase in age at menopause was 1.01 (95% CI, 0.99-1.03; p = 0.329). The prevalence of advanced fibrosis in early, normal, and late menopausal women was 2.1% (95% CI, 0.7-6.4%), 2.2% (95% CI, 1.3-3.8%), and 3.9% (95% CI, 1.2-12.2%), respectively.

Although the findings of the study offers no supporting evidence for an association of early menopause with increased risk of NAFLD, progression of NAFLD to fibrosis is highly prevalent in postmenopausal women.

Source: Lack of association between early menopause and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in postmenopausal women. Climacteric. 2020 Apr;23(2):173-177.