Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with late but not early atherosclerotic lesions in Chinese inpatients with type 2 diabetes

Kaifeng Guo; Lei Zhang; Junxi Lu; Haoyong Yu; Mian Wu; Yuqian Bao; Haibing Chen; Weiping Jia

doi:10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2016.09.008

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with late but not early atherosclerotic lesions in Chinese inpatients with type 2 diabetes

J Diabetes Complications. 2017 Jan;31(1):80-85. doi: 10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2016.09.008. Epub 2016 Sep 27.

Authors

Kaifeng Guo¹, Lei Zhang¹, Junxi Lu¹, Haoyong Yu¹, Mian Wu¹, Yuqian Bao¹, Haibing Chen², Weiping Jia³

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Diabetes Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, Shanghai Clinical Center for Diabetes, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai 200233, China.
² Shanghai Diabetes Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, Shanghai Clinical Center for Diabetes, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai 200233, China. Electronic address: chenhb@sjtu.edu.cn.
³ Shanghai Diabetes Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, Shanghai Clinical Center for Diabetes, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai 200233, China. Electronic address: wpjia@sjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 27742552
DOI: 10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2016.09.008

Abstract

Aims: To investigate the association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and carotid and lower limb atherosclerotic lesions in a large group of hospitalized-based type 2 diabetic population and to assess the prevalence and characteristics of NAFLD in Chinese subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

Methods: A total of 8571 patients (4804 men) with T2DM were included in this cross-sectional study. The main outcome measures were detection of NAFLD, carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT), carotid and lower limb atherosclerotic plaque formation, and classical risk factors.

Results: The prevalence of carotid (56.5% vs. 44.5%; p<0.001) and lower limb plaque (56.2% vs. 48.7%; p<0.001), and carotid (11.2% vs. 6.8%; p<0.001) and lower limb stenosis (15.1% vs. 10.3%; p<0.001) was markedly higher in the diabetic patients with NAFLD than in those without, after controlling for age. However, there was no significant difference in C-IMT between diabetic patients with and without NAFLD (0.82±0.30mm vs. 0.85±0.39mm) after controlling for age. Fully adjusted multiple linear regression and logistic regression analyses revealed that NAFLD was significantly associated with increased prevalence of carotid and lower limb atherosclerotic plaque but not with C-IMT. NAFLD, age, sex, longer duration of diabetes and the presence of hypertension were independently associated with carotid and lower limb atherosclerotic plaque (p<0.05).

Conclusion: NAFLD was not associated with elevated C-IMT but was associated with carotid and lower limb atherosclerotic plaque independent of conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors and metabolic syndrome in Chinese inpatients with T2DM.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Cardiovascular risk factors; Intima-media thickness; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Plaque; Type 2 diabetes.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Atherosclerosis / complications
Atherosclerosis / epidemiology*
Atherosclerosis / pathology
China / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / complications*
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / epidemiology*
Disease Progression
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / complications
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / epidemiology*
Plaque, Atherosclerotic / complications
Plaque, Atherosclerotic / epidemiology*
Plaque, Atherosclerotic / pathology
Risk Factors