{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T18:52:17Z","timestamp":1791312737864,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,26]],"date-time":"2024-03-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1711411200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Circulating immune cells have gained interest as biomarkers of hepatic steatosis. Data on the relationships between immune cell subsets and early-stage steatosis in population-based cohorts are limited.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study included 1,944 asymptomatic participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) with immune cell phenotyping and computed tomography measures of liver fat. Participants with heavy alcohol use were excluded. A liver-to-spleen ratio Hounsfield units (HU) &amp;lt;1.0 and liver attenuation &amp;lt;40 HU were used to diagnose liver fat presence and &amp;gt;30% liver fat content, respectively. Logistic regression estimated cross-sectional associations of immune cell subsets with liver fat parameters adjusted for risk factors. We hypothesized that higher proportions of non-classical monocytes, Th1, Th17, and memory CD4<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> T cells, and lower proportions of classical monocytes and naive CD4<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> T cells, were associated with liver fat. Exploratory analyses evaluated additional immune cell phenotypes (n = 19).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>None of the hypothesized cells were associated with presence of liver fat. Higher memory CD4<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> T cells were associated with &amp;gt;30% liver fat content, but this was not significant after correction for multiple hypothesis testing (odds ratio (OR): 1.31, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03, 1.66). In exploratory analyses unadjusted for multiple testing, higher proportions of CD8<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>CD57<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> T cells were associated with liver fat presence (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.44) and &amp;gt;30% liver fat content (OR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.69).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Higher circulating memory CD4<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> T cells may reflect liver fat severity. CD8<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>CD57<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> cells were associated with liver fat presence and severity, but replication of findings is required.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2024.1243526","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,26]],"date-time":"2024-03-26T04:44:58Z","timestamp":1711428298000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Investigating peripheral blood monocyte and T-cell subsets as non-invasive biomarkers for asymptomatic hepatic steatosis: results from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Rhys W.","family":"Niedecker","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph A.","family":"Delaney","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Margaret 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