Age at menarche is associated with the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease later in life

Abstract

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether age at menarche is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) later in life.

Methods: The association between age at menarche and obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD after menopause was investigated in a cross-sectional study of 4128 postmenopausal Chinese women; NAFLD was diagnosed by hepatic ultrasound and information regarding age at menarche was collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.

Results: Women with age at menarche <15 years had higher prevalence of overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD compared with women with age at menarche 15-18 or >18 years. Logistic regression revealed that women with earlier menarche had a higher risk for the age-adjusted prevalence of overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD, whereas later menarche showed a weaker, but still significant, association with a lower prevalence of NAFLD. However, further adjustment for some variables and current body mass index (BMI) or homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) attenuated the association between later menarche and a lower prevalence of NAFLD. A decreasing trend in the risk of NAFLD was seen across increasing levels of age at menarche (age-adjusted P_trend < 0.001; multivariate-adjusted P_trend < 0.001; multivariate + current BMI-adjusted P_trend = 0.03; multivariate + HOMA-IR-adjusted P_trend = 0.06).

Conclusion: Age at menarche is associated with the prevalence of NAFLD later in life, independent of BMI and insulin resistance.

Keywords: age at menarche; insulin resistance; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; obesity.