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. 2021 Oct;12(10):1890-1898.
doi: 10.1111/jdi.13548. Epub 2021 May 4.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a risk factor for glucose intolerance onset in men regardless of alanine aminotransferase status

Teruki Miyake  1 , Bunzo Matsuura  2 , Shinya Furukawa  3 , Osamu Yoshida  1 , Masashi Hirooka  1 , Teru Kumagi  4 , Toru Ishihara  5 , Sayaka Kanzaki  1 , Hironobu Nakaguchi  2 , Masumi Miyazaki  1 , Yoshiko Nakamura  1 , Yasunori Yamamoto  1 , Yohei Koizumi  1 , Yoshio Tokumoto  1 , Eiji Takeshita  1 , Yoshio Ikeda  1 , Masanori Abe  1 , Kohichiro Kitai  5 , Yoichi Hiasa  1
Affiliations

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a risk factor for glucose intolerance onset in men regardless of alanine aminotransferase status

Teruki Miyake et al. J Diabetes Investig. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Introduction: Fatty liver disease (FLD) is a surrogate condition for glucose intolerance development. FLD may involve normal or abnormal liver enzyme levels. Whether FLD is a risk factor for glucose intolerance, regardless of liver enzyme levels, remains unknown. We assessed relationships between the development of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and FLD, liver enzyme abnormalities, and alcohol consumption.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively evaluated 8,664 participants with more than two annual health check-ups. Participants were classified according to sex, alcohol consumption, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, and fatty liver status.

Results: In univariate analyses, IFG onset among men was related to normal or high ALT levels with FLD in the nonalcoholic and alcoholic groups (P-trend < 0.01). In multivariate analyses, IFG onset among nonalcoholic men was associated with normal or high ALT levels with FLD, independent of potential confounding factors (P-trend < 0.01). However, IFG onset was non-independently associated with any condition among alcoholic men. In univariate analyses, IFG onset among women was related to normal or high ALT levels with FLD in the nonalcoholic group (P-trend < 0.01) and high ALT levels with FLD in the alcoholic group (P-trend < 0.05). In multivariate analyses, IFG onset was independently associated with only normal ALT levels in nonalcoholic FLD women.

Conclusions: Among nonalcoholic men and women, FLD was a risk factor for IFG onset, including normal ALT concentrations. Care is needed for individuals with nonalcoholic FLD, regardless of liver injury, possibly helping reduce glucose intolerance risk.

Keywords: Abnormal glucose tolerance; Fatty liver; Normal alanine aminotransferase.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study participant selection process. HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; HCV, hepatitis C virus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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