Hu XY, et al. - This study examined the risk factors and biomarkers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in patients aged over 18 and below 80 years, not currently being treated for cancer or infectious disease or no surgery in the previous year, and no history of cancer or an infectious disease. Among the enrollees, NAFLD appeared to be a common occurrence. Data shed light on the connection between NAFLD with uric acid. Researchers illustrated oleic acid-hydroxy oleic acid (OAHOA) as a novel marker of NAFLD prevalence. In China, it served as a reference on the prevention of NAFLD and related metabolic diseases with the rapid urbanisation, technological advancement and population ageing over the recent decades.

Methods

• The scheme of this research was an observational cross-sectional primary survey.
• It was performed at Central China.
• Eligible candidates comprised of 1,479 subjects aged over 18 and below 80 years, not currently being treated for cancer or infectious disease or no surgery in the previous year, and no history of cancer or an infectious disease.
• Subjects underwent clinical examination, metabolomic assay and anthropometric assessment.
• In order to examine the correlations between covariates and NAFLD, univariate and logistic regression analyses were used.
• Risk factors and metabolic biomarkers including sex, body mass index, hypertension, body fat ratio, blood triglycerides, blood fasting glucose, liver enzyme elevation, uric acid and oleic acid-hydroxy oleic acid (OAHOA) served as the primary outcomes.

Results

• A total of 447 participants (mean age 44.3±11.9 years) were inspected.
• The prevalence of NAFLD was discovered to be 24.7%.
• The following served as independent predictors of NAFLD (all P < 0.05): Male sex (OR 3.484, 95% CI 2.028 to 5.988), body mass index ≥24 kg/m² (OR 8.494, 95% CI 5.581 to 12.928), body fat ratio (≥25 for women, ≥20 for men) (OR 1.833, 95% CI 1.286 to 2.756), triglycerides ≥1.7 mmol/L (OR 1.340, 95% CI 1.006 to 1.785), fasting glucose ≥6.1 mmol/L (OR 3.324, 95% CI 1.888 to 5.850), blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg or antihypertensive drug treatment (OR 1.451, 95% CI 1.069 to 1.970), uric acid (≥357 μmol/L for women, ≥416 μmol/L for men) (OR 2.755, 95% CI 2.009 to 3.778) and OAHOA (<5 nmol/L) (OR 1.340, 95% CI 1.006 to 1.785).
• Verification of obtained data was done by all 1,479 enrollees.