Abstract
BACKGROUND: Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease has been linked to negative outcomes in patients with end-stage liver disease following liver transplantation. However, the influence of immunosuppressive regimens on it has not been explored. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the preoperative and postoperative data from patients with end-stage liver disease. The study compared three different groups: tacrolimus-based group, sirolimus-based group, and combined tacrolimus- and sirolimus-based regimens. Binary logistic regression analysis was employed to identify risk factors for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease. RESULTS: A total of 171 patients participated in the study, consisting of 127 males and 44 females, with a mean age of 49.6 years. The prevalence of posttransplant metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease was 29.23%. Among the three groups, there were 111 liver transplant recipients in the tacrolimus-based group, 28 in the sirolimus-based group, and 32 in the combination group. A statistically significant difference was observed in the incidence of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (P < 0.05), whereas the other preoperative and postoperative parameters showed no significant differences. Multivariate analysis revealed that a low-calorie diet (95% confidence intervals: 0.15-0.90, P = 0.021) and a combination of tacrolimus- and sirolimus-based immunosuppressive regimen (95% confidence intervals: 1.01-2.77, P = 0.046) were associated with lower risk of posttransplant metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that implementing a low-calorie diet and utilizing a combination of tacrolimus- and sirolimus-based immunosuppressive regimen can effectively lower the risk of posttransplant metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease following liver transplantation.