Wang Li, Cao Shan, Song Guodong
Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
Department of Respiratory, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
Front Nutr. 2025 Apr 30;12:1575524. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1575524. eCollection 2025.
Gallstones are a prevalent condition that can lead to significant morbidity and healthcare costs. Relative fat mass (RFM), as a potential marker of body fat distribution, may offer insights beyond traditional metrics like body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. This study aims to investigate the association between RFM and gallstone prevalence in the U.S. population.
The study cohort comprised 6,881 participants obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 2017 and 2020. Participants were stratified into quartiles (Q1-Q4) based on their RFM. To evaluate the associations, multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to assess odds ratios (OR) for gallstone risk across different quartiles of RFM. Additionally, restricted cubic spline analysis was conducted to ascertain the relationship trend while subgroup analyses examined interactions based on age, sex, race, education level, and lifestyle factors.
The analysis revealed significant associations for participants within the higher RFM quartiles (Q3 and Q4), with ORs of 2.58 (95% CI: 1.65, 4.04) and 6.30 (95% CI: 3.63, 10.93), respectively, compared to Q1. The findings consistently indicated that RFM, particularly in Q4, is a strong predictor of gallstone risk, demonstrating superior predictive performance relative to waist circumference and BMI, as evidenced by an AUC of 0.702.
Elevated RFM is a noteworthy predictor of gallstone risk in the studied population, suggesting its potential utility in clinical risk assessment frameworks. Future research should focus on elucidating the underlying mechanisms driving this association and exploring RFM's applicability as a pragmatic tool in clinical practice for gallstone risk stratification.
胆结石是一种常见病症，可导致严重发病并产生高昂医疗费用。相对脂肪量（RFM）作为身体脂肪分布的潜在标志物，可能提供超越体重指数（BMI）和腰围等传统指标的见解。本研究旨在调查美国人群中RFM与胆结石患病率之间的关联。
研究队列包括从2017年至2020年进行的美国国家健康与营养检查调查（NHANES）中选取的6881名参与者。参与者根据其RFM被分为四分位数（Q1-Q4）。为评估关联，采用多变量逻辑回归分析来评估不同RFM四分位数的胆结石风险比值比（OR）。此外，进行受限立方样条分析以确定关系趋势，同时亚组分析基于年龄、性别、种族、教育水平和生活方式因素检查相互作用。
分析显示，与Q1相比，RFM较高四分位数（Q3和Q4）的参与者存在显著关联，OR分别为2.58（95%CI：1.65，4.04）和6.30（95%CI：3.63，10.93）。研究结果一致表明，RFM，尤其是在Q4中，是胆结石风险的强有力预测指标，相对于腰围和BMI具有卓越的预测性能，AUC为0.702证明了这一点。
RFM升高是所研究人群中胆结石风险的一个值得注意的预测指标，表明其在临床风险评估框架中的潜在效用。未来研究应专注于阐明驱动这种关联的潜在机制，并探索RFM作为胆结石风险分层临床实践中实用工具的适用性。
