OBJECTIVE: While nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with the metabolic
syndrome, it is not known if NAFLD plays an independent role in the atherogenic
dyslipidemia phenotype. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Multi-Ethnic Study of
Atherosclerosis (MESA) is a population-based prospective cohort study of adults free of
clinical cardiovascular disease at enrollment. We tested for a relationship between NAFLD,
defined as a liver/spleen (L/S) attenuation ratio of< 1 on a non-contrast cardiac CT scan, and …