RESUMO
Objective: To study the application of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL-C) combined with liver function indexes to predict metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). Methods: A total of 2971 outpatients diagnosed with MAFLD and 2794 healthy controls were enrolled, and their relevant data were collected. Two-sample Mann-Whitney U test and binary logistic regression analysis were conducted to study the relationship between TG/HDL-C and MAFLD and to construct combined diagnosis models of MAFLD. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to pick out the optimal model. Results: The TG/HDL-C of MAFLD patients was significantly higher than that of healthy controls. In multivariate analysis, after adjusting for body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, uric acid and creatinine, the odds ratio of TG/HDL-C was 2.356 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.028-5.400). Therefore, TG/HDL-C was an independent risk factor for MAFLD. ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of using TG/HDL-C to predict MAFLD was 0.795 (95% CI: 0.784-0.807), and when the cut-off value was 1.09, the sensitivity was 0.679 and the specificity was 0.755. The AUC of the diagnosis model established by a combined use of TG/HDL-C, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and albumin (ALB) was 0.890 (95% CI: 0.882-0.898), and when the cut-off value was 0.47, the sensitivity and specificity were 0.792 and 0.839, respectively. Conclusion: TG/HDL-C is an independent risk factor for MAFLD. TG/HDL-C can well predict MAFLD when it is used in combination with ALT, AST, and ALB.
