The correlation between NAFLD and serum uric acid to serum creatinine ratio.

Abstract

BackgroundWith the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) increasing worldwide, many noninvasive techniques have been used to improve its diagnosis. Recently, the serum uric acid/creatinine (sUA/sCr) ratio was identified as an indicator of fatty liver disease. Therefore, we examined the relationship between sUA/sCr levels and ultrasound-diagnosed NAFLD in Korean adults.MethodsThis study included 16,666 20-year-olds or older who received health checkups at a university hospital's health promotion center from January to December 2021. Among them, 11,791 non-patients with and without NAFLD were analyzed, excluding those without abdominal ultrasound, those without data on fatty liver, cancer, or chronic kidney disease severity, those with a history of alcohol abuse, and those with serum hs-CRP ResultssUA/sCr increased with fatty liver severity, and the post-correction OR in the NAFLD group was 1.183 (95% CI: 1.137-1.231) compared to the group without NAFLD. Concerning the fatty liver severity, the post-correction OR in the mild NAFLD group increased to 1.147 (95% CI: 1.099-1.196), and that in the moderate-to-severe NAFLD group increased to 1.275 (95% CI: 1.212-1.341) compared to the group without NAFLD. The sensitivity of sUA/sCr to fatty liver severity was 57.9% for the non-NAFLD group, 56.7% for the mild NAFLD group, and 59.0% for the moderate-to-severe NAFLD group; the specificity of sUA/sCr to fatty liver severity 61.4% for the non-NAFLD group, 57.3% for the mild NAFLD group, and 65.2% for the moderate-to-severe NAFLD group.ConclusionNAFLD severity is associated with sUA/sCR.