Department of Geriatric Medicine, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Geriatric Diseases, Fujian Medical University, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fujian Provincial Institute of Clinical Geriatrics, Fuzhou, 350001, China.
Key Laboratory of Medical Big Data Project of Fujian Province, Fujian Medical University, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, China.
BMC Endocr Disord. 2023 Aug 7;23(1):165. doi: 10.1186/s12902-023-01427-x.
Several studies have explored the connection between follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the impact of FSH elevation on NAFLD remains a topic of debate. Hence, this investigation aimed to evaluate the potential correlation between FSH levels and NAFLD in the aging population.
This was a retrospective observational cross-sectional study between July 2017 and August 2018 in our hospital. We used data obtained from 455 patients over 60 years old. Anthropometrics and laboratory tests were performed for each patient. NAFLD was diagnosed by sonographic features and the fatty liver index (LFI).
Of the 455 patients, 200 (43.96%) had NAFLD on their ultrasound and 169 (37.14%) had NAFLD according to the LFI. An intraclass correlation coefficient of the two methods was 80.4% (P < 0.001). People with NAFLD on their ultrasound showed lower FSH levels (52.68 vs. 61.39 IU/L) and more unfavorable metabolic profiles. FSH was negatively correlated with age, alanine aminotransferase, estradiol, testosterone, systolic blood pressure, waist, body mass index, fasting blood glucose, postload plasma glucose and positive associated with total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol by Spearman correlation analysis (all P < 0.05). By controlling for all confounding factors, the odds ratios (OR) of FSH for NAFLD were determined in elderly individuals, both men and women, aged 60-70 years and over 70 years. These ORs were found to be 0.937, 0.982, 0.983, and 0.973, respectively, with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 0.892-0.984 (P = 0.009), 0.971-0.993 (P = 0.002), 0.967-0.999 (P = 0.033), and 0.958-0.989 (P = 0.001). In addition, our findings demonstrated no significant correlation between FSH and advanced fibrosis when adjusting for potential covariates. The OR for advanced fibrosis was 0.979 (95% CI, 0.938-1.022, P = 0.339). Additionally, ROC curve analysis showed an optimal cut-off value of 66.91 for women and 15.25 for men for NAFLD diagnosis.
There was an inverse relationship observed between levels of FSH in the blood serum and NAFLD in the elderly population. These findings suggest that reduced FSH levels might serve as a potential risk factor or biomarker for NAFLD in the elderly.
几项研究探讨了卵泡刺激素（FSH）与非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）之间的联系。然而，FSH 升高对 NAFLD 的影响仍然存在争议。因此，本研究旨在评估 FSH 水平与老年人群中 NAFLD 之间的潜在相关性。
这是我们医院 2017 年 7 月至 2018 年 8 月期间进行的一项回顾性观察性横断面研究。我们使用了 455 名 60 岁以上患者的数据。对每位患者进行人体测量学和实验室检查。通过超声特征和脂肪肝指数（LFI）诊断 NAFLD。
在 455 名患者中，200 名（43.96%）在超声检查中患有 NAFLD，169 名（37.14%）根据 LFI 患有 NAFLD。两种方法的组内相关系数为 80.4%（P<0.001）。在超声检查中患有 NAFLD 的患者 FSH 水平较低（52.68 vs. 61.39 IU/L），代谢特征更差。FSH 与年龄、丙氨酸氨基转移酶、雌二醇、睾酮、收缩压、腰围、体重指数、空腹血糖、负荷后血浆葡萄糖呈负相关，与总胆固醇、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇和低密度脂蛋白胆固醇呈正相关（均 P<0.05）。通过控制所有混杂因素，确定了 60-70 岁和 70 岁以上老年男性和女性 FSH 对 NAFLD 的比值比（OR）。这些 OR 分别为 0.937、0.982、0.983 和 0.973，相应的 95%置信区间（CI）为 0.892-0.984（P=0.009）、0.971-0.993（P=0.002）、0.967-0.999（P=0.033）和 0.958-0.989（P=0.001）。此外，当调整潜在协变量时，我们的研究结果表明 FSH 与晚期纤维化之间没有显著相关性。晚期纤维化的 OR 为 0.979（95%CI，0.938-1.022，P=0.339）。此外，ROC 曲线分析显示女性最佳截断值为 66.91，男性最佳截断值为 15.25，用于诊断 NAFLD。
血清 FSH 水平与老年人群中的 NAFLD 呈负相关。这些发现表明，降低的 FSH 水平可能是老年人群中 NAFLD 的潜在风险因素或生物标志物。
