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
. 2016:2016:2931985.
doi: 10.1155/2016/2931985. Epub 2016 Mar 30.

The Burden of NAFLD and Its Characteristics in a Nationwide Population with Type 2 Diabetes

Gabriele Forlani  1 , Carlo Giorda  2 , Roberta Manti  2 , Natalia Mazzella  1 , Salvatore De Cosmo  3 , Maria Chiara Rossi  4 , Antonio Nicolucci  4 , Paolo Di Bartolo  5 , Antonio Ceriello  6 , Pietro Guida  7 ; AMD-Annals Study Group  7
Affiliations
Free PMC article

The Burden of NAFLD and Its Characteristics in a Nationwide Population with Type 2 Diabetes

Gabriele Forlani et al. J Diabetes Res. 2016.
Free PMC article

Abstract

Objective: We studied the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its clinical correlates in a population of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: Clinical data of 94,577 T2DM patients were retrieved from 160 diabetes clinics in Italy in a standardized format and centrally analyzed anonymously. After exclusion of 5967 cases (high or uncertain alcohol intake), in 38,880 the Fatty Liver Index (FLI) was used as a proxy for the diagnosis of NAFLD. Factors associated with FLI assessed NAFLD (FLI-NAFLD) were evaluated through multivariate analysis.

Results: FLI-NAFLD was present in 59.6% of patients. Compared to non-NAFLD, FLI-NAFLD was associated with impairment in renal function, higher albumin excretion, HbA1c and blood pressure, lower HDL cholesterol, and poorer quality of care. ALT was within normal limits in 73.6% of FLI-NAFLD patients (45.6% if the updated reference values were used). The prevalence of FLI-NAFLD did not differ if the whole sample (94,577 cases) was examined, irrespective of alcohol intake.

Conclusions: FLI-NAFLD was present in the majority of T2DM patients of our sample and metabolic derangement, not alcohol consumption, was mainly associated with the disease. FLI-NAFLD patients have a worse metabolic profile. ALT levels are not predictive of NAFLD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of sample selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Williams K. H., Shackel N. A., Gorrell M. D., McLennan S. V., Twigg S. M. Diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a pathogenic duo. Endocrine Reviews. 2013;34(1):84–129. doi: 10.1210/er.2012-1009. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Marchesini G., Brizi M., Blanchi G., et al. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a feature of the metabolic syndrome. Diabetes. 2001;50(8):1844–1850. doi: 10.2337/diabetes.50.8.1844. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Musso G., Gambino R., Cassader M., Pagano G. Meta-analysis: natural history of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and diagnostic accuracy of non-invasive tests for liver disease severity. Annals of Medicine. 2011;43(8):617–649. doi: 10.3109/07853890.2010.518623. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leite N. C., Villela-Nogueira C. A., Pannain V. L. N., et al. Histopathological stages of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in type 2 diabetes: prevalences and correlated factors. Liver International. 2011;31(5):700–706. doi: 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2011.02482.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hossain N., Afendy A., Stepanova M., et al. Independent predictors of fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2009;7(11):1224.e2–1229.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2009.06.007. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms