Inverse Association of the Life's Crucial 9 Score With MAFLD: An Exploratory Mediation Analysis of the C-Reactive Protein-Albumin-Lymphocyte (CALLY) Index

Background

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease. Life's Crucial 9 (LC9), an expanded cardiovascular health metric incorporating psychological health, may provide a multidimensional measure of cardiometabolic health. The CALLY index integrates inflammatory, immune, and nutritional information and has been associated with MAFLD. However, whether ln(CALLY) statistically accounts for part of the association between LC9 and MAFLD remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between LC9 and MAFLD and to explore the statistical indirect association through ln(CALLY).