ABSTRACT
Objective:To compare the effects of low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) and low-fat diet (LFD) in the lifestyle intervention of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Methods:PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane, CNKI and Wanfang were searched for relevant studies and study references and conference proceedings were manually searched. Two authors independently screened the items retrieved, extracted the data and assessed the quality of included studies. Meta-analysis was performed using R4.4.1 and RevMan5.4.1. Data were pooled using random-effects models and potential sources of heterogeneity were investigated using stratified meta-analysis. Funnel plots and Peters' test were used to assess publication bias.Results:Nine studies with a total of 510 participants met our inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis results showed that LCD and LFD interventions had similar effects on the reduction of intrahepatic lipid content in NAFLD patients ( SMD: -0.31,95% CI: 0.97 to 0.35, P = 0.36). There were no significant differences in changes of alanine aminotransferase ( SMD: -0.25, 95%CI: 0.91 to 0.41, P = 0.45) and aspartate aminotransferase ( SMD: -0.45, 95%CI: 1.63 to 0.72, P = 0.45) levels, either. Subgroup analyses implied that the duration of different interventions might be the cause of heterogeneity across studies. No significant publication bias was showed in the meta-analysis. Conclusion:Current evidence from randomized controlled studies does not support the superiority of LCD over LFD in the treatment of NAFLD.