Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jul 5;7(1):4649.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-04631-7.

Liver Fat, Hepatic Enzymes, Alkaline Phosphatase and the Risk of Incident Type 2 Diabetes: A Prospective Study of 132,377 Adults

Sean Chun-Chang Chen  1 , Shan Pou Tsai  2 , Jing-Yun Jhao  2   3 , Wun-Kai Jiang  2   3 , Chwen Keng Tsao  2 , Ly-Yun Chang  4   5   6
Affiliations

Liver Fat, Hepatic Enzymes, Alkaline Phosphatase and the Risk of Incident Type 2 Diabetes: A Prospective Study of 132,377 Adults

Sean Chun-Chang Chen et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Previous studies have reported inconsistent results of the associations of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) with incident type 2 diabetes (diabetes hereafter). We aimed to resolve the controversy by taking nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) into account. The study population comprised 132,377 non-diabetic individuals (64,875 men and 67,502 women) aged 35-79 who had two or more health examinations during 1996-2014. A total of 6,555 incident diabetes (3,734 men and 2,821 women) were identified, on average, over 5.8 years of follow-up. Cox regression was used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) for incident diabetes, adjusting for classical confounders. The risk of incident diabetes was significantly associated with NAFLD [HR = 2.08 (men) and 2.65 (women)]. Elevated ALT, AST, GGT and ALP were also significantly associated with the increased risk of diabetes, with HRs of 1.27, 1.23, 1.58 and 1.37, respectively, in men, and 1.56, 1.18, 1.48 and 1.44, respectively in women. Our results suggest that NAFLD, ALT, AST, GGT and ALP are independent predictors for incident diabetes in both men and women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

    1. Chan JC, et al. Diabetes in Asia: epidemiology, risk factors, and pathophysiology. JAMA. 2009;301:2129–2140. doi: 10.1001/jama.2009.726. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Emerging Risk Factors, C. et al. Diabetes mellitus, fasting glucose, and risk of cause-specific death. N Engl J Med364, 829–841, doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1008862 (2011). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Knowler WC, et al. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. New Engl J Med. 2002;346:393–403. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa012512. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fraser A, et al. Alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, and incident diabetes: the British Women’s Heart and Health Study and meta-analysis. Diabetes Care. 2009;32:741–750. doi: 10.2337/dc08-1870. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hanley AJ, et al. Elevations in markers of liver injury and risk of type 2 diabetes: the insulin resistance atherosclerosis study. Diabetes. 2004;53:2623–2632. doi: 10.2337/diabetes.53.10.2623. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types