Predictive Value of the Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease and Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase Levels in Nonobese Chinese Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Zuohu Niu,1,* Jialiang Chen,2,* Huijing Wang,3,* Rongrui Wang,3,4 Hongye Peng,3 Shaojie Duan,5 Shukun Yao4 1Department of Infections, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Center of Integrative Medicine, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Graduate School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Geriatrics, Taizhou Central Hospital (Taizhou University Hospital), Taizhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shaojie Duan, Department of Geriatrics, Taizhou Central Hospital (Taizhou University Hospital), Taizhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Shukun Yao, Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, No. 2 Yinghua East Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: It is unclear how the Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index (cVAI) relates to metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in nonobese individuals. In this study, we evaluated the ability of the cVAI to predict MAFLD and elevated ALT in nonobese participants.Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 541 nonobese subjects from March 2019 to January 2022 with the age range of 18– 80 years. Hepatic steatosis was diagnosed by ultrasound. Participants were divided into four groups according to cVAI quartiles. To assess the associations between cVAI and MAFLD and elevated ALT, multivariate logistic regression was used. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to evaluate the ability of the cVAI to predict MAFLD and elevated ALT.Results: Compared to the group with the lowest cVAI, the group with the highest cVAI was positively associated with nonobese MAFLD [16.173 (4.082– 64.073), P 38 and ≤ 38 years old subgroups (P < 0.05), respectively. In addition, the ability of the cVAI to predict MAFLD was better in females, young individuals, and individuals with a higher education level (P < 0.05). The cVAI also had good predictive ability for elevated ALT levels [0.655 (0.602– 0.708)], particularly in females, young people, and highly educated participants. Furthermore, the cVAI was strongly positively correlated with the liver fibrosis score (P < 0.05) and was also a strong indicator of concomitant metabolic syndrome in nonobese MAFLD patients [AUC = 0.688 (0.612– 0.763)].Conclusion: The cVAI was strongly related to nonobese MAFLD and elevated ALT. The cVAI may be a reliable and accessible predictor of nonobese MAFLD and elevated ALT.Keywords: Chinese visceral adiposity index, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease, nonobese, Chinese, cross-sectional study

Keywords

• chinese visceral adiposity index
• metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease
• nonobese
• chinese
• cross-sectional study