Clinical Characteristics, Risk Factors, and Predictors of Nonobese Fatty Liver Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to investigate the risk factors and predictors of non-obese fatty liver disease in the Chinese population.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 6,014 adults who underwent physical examinations at Union Hospital of Huazhong University of Science and Technology from March 2019 to March 2023 were included in this study. Fatty liver disease was diagnosed based on at least two of the following criteria: diffuse echo patterns relative to the liver, spleen, and kidney; ultrasonic beam attenuation; and poor intrahepatic visual details. The associations between non-obese fatty liver and gender, age, total bilirubin(TBIL), direct bilirubin(DBIL), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase(AST), glutamine transferase(GGT), alkaline phosphatase(ALP), triglycerides(TG), total cholesterol(TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDLC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDLC), urea nitrogen(BUN), creatinine(Cr), uric acid(UA), Central nervous system sensitivity PTFQI, TSHI, TT4RI, TFQI, Peripheral sensitivity, free thyroxine(FT), thyroid-stimulating hormone(TSH), triiodothyronine(FT), fasting blood glucose(FBG), systolic blood pressure(SBP), diastolic blood pressure(DBP), body mass index(BMI) were analyzed via binary logistic regression. Correlation between non-obese fatty liver and high blood lipids, hypertension, hyperuricemia, diabetes, thyroid dysfunction were analyzed using the Pearson and Spearman methods. ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic effect of the indicator.

RESULTS

Compared with the normal group, age, proportion of males, ALT, AST, GGT, ALP, TG, TC, BUN, Cr, UA, TSHI, TT4RI, FT/FT, TSH, FT, FBG, SBP, DBP and BMI in the disease group were significantly higher. The prevalence of non-obese fatty liver was associated with hyperlipidemia, hypertension, hyperuricemia and diabetes. Gender, age, DBIL, ALT, ALP, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, BUN, UA, FBG, DBP, BMI were independent risk factors for non-obese fatty liver.FT/FT may be considered as a predictor of nonobese fatty liver.

CONCLUSION

Risk factors for non-obese fatty liver may include sex, age, TG, TC, BMI, etc. Hyperlipidemia, hypertension, hyperuricemia and diabetes mellitus are related to non-obese fatty liver. FT/FT may be a predictor of non-obese fatty liver disease.