Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Markers Associated with Fasting Serum Insulin and Urinary Albumin Excretion Independent of Fasting Plasma Glucose

Shuichi Katoh; Markku Peltonen; Mikio Zeniya; Yoichi Sakamoto; Kazunori Utsunomiya; Rimei Nishimura; Jaakko Tuomilehto

doi:10.3390/jcm9103161

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Markers Associated with Fasting Serum Insulin and Urinary Albumin Excretion Independent of Fasting Plasma Glucose

J Clin Med. 2020 Sep 29;9(10):3161. doi: 10.3390/jcm9103161.

Authors

Shuichi Katoh¹, Markku Peltonen², Mikio Zeniya³, Yoichi Sakamoto⁴, Kazunori Utsunomiya⁵, Rimei Nishimura¹, Jaakko Tuomilehto^{2

6}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Diabetes, Metabolism & Endocrinology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishishimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan.
² Public Health Promotion Unit, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Mannerheimintie 166, FI-00271 Helsinki, Finland.
³ Gastroenterology, Akasaka Sanno Medical Center, 4-1-26W Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8402, Japan.
⁴ Jikei University Harumi Triton Clinic, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishishimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan.
⁵ Department of Health-Care Center, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishishimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan.
⁶ Diabetes Research Group, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Objective: We examined the association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) markers and fasting serum immunoreactive insulin (FIRI) and urinary albumin excretion (UAE).

Subjects and methods: This study comprised Periods I and II from January 2007 to May 2009, and from June 2009 to December 2011, respectively. After excluding people with ethanol intake ≥210 g/week in men and ≥140 g/week in women, 961 people (613 men, 348 women; mean age: 44 years) were included. We evaluated the fatty liver using ultrasonography score (FLUS) and measured liver enzymes.

Results: The mean observation period was 25 ± 9 months. We stratified people into two groups by fasting plasma glucose (FPG) in Period I. The cutoff point between the lower FPG and higher FPG was 100 mg/dL. In regression analysis, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (p < 0.001), FLUS (p < 0.001) and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP) (p = 0.022) in Period I were independently associated with FIRI in Period II, whereas in all participants FPG was not. ALT (p < 0.001) and GGTP (p = 0.001) were also independently associated with UAE in people with FPG < 100 mg/dL in Period II.

Conclusions: Some NAFLD markers were associated with FIRI and UAE independently of fasting plasma glucose.

Keywords: diabetes; fasting serum insulin; impaired fasting glucose; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; serum alanine aminotransferase; urinary albumin excretion.