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. 2023 Feb 22:14:1058995.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1058995. eCollection 2023.

Identifying advanced MAFLD in a cohort of T2DM and clinical features

Ana Maria Sanchez-Bao  1 , Alfonso Soto-Gonzalez  2 , Manuel Delgado-Blanco  3 , Vanesa Balboa-Barreiro  4 , Diego Bellido  1
Affiliations

Identifying advanced MAFLD in a cohort of T2DM and clinical features

Ana Maria Sanchez-Bao et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Background: MAFLD is the most common cause of chronic liver disease, affecting 25% of the global population. Patients with T2DM have an increased risk of developing MAFLD. In addition, patients with T2DM have a higher risk of advanced forms of steatohepatitis and fibrosis. Identifying those patients is critical in order to refer them to specialist and appropriate management of their disease.

Aims and objectives: To estimate advanced fibrosis prevalence in a cohort of patients with T2DM and to identify possible predictors.

Methods: subjects with T2DM during regular health check-up were enrolled. Demographic and general characteristics were measured, including metabolic parameters and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR). Four non-invasive fibrosis scores (NAFLD fibrosis scores, FIB-4, APRI, Hepamet fibrosis score) were measure and compared with transient elastography (TE).

Results: 96 patients (21%) presented risk of significant fibrosis (≥F2) measured by TE and 45 patients (10%) presented with risk of advanced fibrosis F3-F4. Liver fibrosis was related to BMI, AC, HOMA2-IR. The results of the non-invasive fibrosis scores have been validated with the results obtained in the TE. It is observed that the index with the greatest area under the curve (AUC) is APRI (AUC=0.729), with a sensitivity of 62.2% and a specificity of 76.1%. However, the test with better positive likelihood ratio (LR+) in our study is NAFLD fibrosis score.

Conclusions: Our results show that in a general T2DM follow up, 10% of patients were at risk of advanced fibrosis. We found a positive correlation between liver fibrosis and BMI, AC and HOMA2-IR. Non-invasive fibrosis markers can be useful for screening, showing NAFLD Fibrosis score a better LHR+ compared to TE. Further studies are needed to validate these results and elucidate the best screening approach to identify those patients at risk of advanced MAFLD.

Keywords: MAFLD; NAFLD; NASH; T2DM; liver fibrosis; metabolic syndrome; obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
ROC curves for non-invasive fibrosis scores to TE.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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