Association between glycosylated hemoglobin and non-alcoholic fatty liver in the elderly / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate an association between glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1c)level and non-alcoholic fatty liver(NAFL)in the elderly.Methods:In this retrospective case-control study, 5 186 elderly individuals aged 65 years and over meeting the inclusion conditions via health physical examination were successively selected from January to December 2018.They were divided into NAFL group(n=1 731)and non-NAFL group(n=3 455). Waist circumference, body mass index, smoking history, diastolic blood pressure, glomerular filtration rate, serum levels of triglyceride, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase, aspartic aminotransferase, fasting blood glucose and HbA1c were compared between the two groups, and their correlations with NAFL were analyzed.Results:The prevalence of NAFL was 33.4%(1, 731/5, 186). The values of waistline, body mass index, smoking history, diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, glomerular filtration rate, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, fasting glucose and HbA1c were higher in the NAFL group than in non-NAFL group(all P<0.05). While levels of creatinine, urea nitrogen and age were lower in the NAFL group than in non-NAFL group( P<0.05). According to the quartile of HbA1c level, these subjects were divided into Q1 to Q4 groups(HbA1c<5.7%, 5.7≤HbA1c<6.0%, 6.0%≤HbA1c<6.5%, HbA1c≥6.5%), and the prevalence of NAFL in the Q1 to Q4 were 22.8%(225/1 120), 27.9%(398/1 429), 36.5%(514/1 409), 45.9%(564/1 228)respectively.The prevalence of NAFL was increased along with the increase in the level of HbA1c( P<0.01). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for age, gender and metabolic components, the risk for developing NAFL was gradually increased in Q2 group, Q3 group, Q4 group versus Q1 group as the following OR value OR=1.274, 95% CI 1.004-1.616; OR=1.639, 95% CI 1.294-2.077; OR=1.787, 95% CI 1.337-2.389, respectively, all P<0.01. Conclusions:The prevalence of NAFL is positively associated with HbA1c levels in the elderly and HbA1c is an independent risk factor for NAFL disease.