Aspirin Use Does Not Significantly Reduce the Risk of Liver Fibrosis in Patients With Metabolic Dysfunction‐Associated Steatotic Liver Disease

The effect of aspirin on liver fibrosis is still controversial. To further explore the effect of aspirin on liver fibrosis in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), we conducted this study. We applied NHANES database data to evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis through fibroscan and explored the impact of aspirin on liver fibrosis in patients with MASLD from a cross-sectional study based on the American population. Considering the shortcomings of cross-sectional studies, we also applied Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, a novel research method, to evaluate the potential causal relationship of aspirin on liver fibrosis and cirrhosis from a genetic perspective. In a cross-sectional study of the NHANES database, we did not find that aspirin significantly improved the prognosis of liver fibrosis in MASLD patients after adjusting for possible confounding biases by multivariable logistic regression analysis. Similarly, in univariate and multivariate MR analyses, we did not observe a potential causal relationship between aspirin and liver fibrosis or cirrhosis. Our study did not find that aspirin significantly reduced the risk of liver fibrosis in MASLD patients based on cross-sectional studies of the American population and genetic associations by MR analysis.