Independent Dose–Response Associations between Fetuin-A and Lean Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

• Main Authors: Chia-Wen Lu, Yi-Chen Lee, Chien-Hsieh Chiang, Hao-Hsiang Chang, Wei-Shiung Yang, Kuo-Chin Huang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Nutrients
• Subjects: central obesity; fetuin-A; lean NAFLD; insulin resistance
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/9/2928

Patients with lean NAFLD make up an increasing subset of liver disease patients. The association between lean NAFLD and feutin-A, which serves as a hepatokine and adipokine, has never been examined. Our study aimed to explore the association of serum fetuin-A among lean and non-lean patients. The study comprised 606 adults from the community, stratified into lean or non-lean (BMI </≥ 24 kg/m²) and NAFLD or non-NAFLD (scoring of ultrasonographic fatty liver indicator, US-FLI ≥ 2/< 2). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the odds ratio of having NAFLD among the tertiles of fetuin-A after adjustment. The least square means were computed by general linear models to estimate marginal means of the serum fetuin-A concentrations in relation to the NAFLD groups. The odds ratio (OR) of having NAFLD for the highest versus the lowest tertile of fetuin-A was 2.62 (95% CI: 1.72–3.98; <i>p</i> for trend < 0.001). Stratifying by BMI, the OR of having lean NAFLD for the highest versus the lowest tertile of fetuin-A was 2.09 (95% CI: 1.09–3.98; <i>p</i> for trend 0.026), while non-lean NAFLD had no significant association with the fetuin-A gradient after adjustments. Fetuin-A was positively associated with lean NAFLD after adjusting for central obesity and insulin resistance.