Relationship between Insulin Resistance Risk Scales and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Liver Fibrosis Scales in 219,477 Spanish Workers

Abstract

Insulin resistance (IR) has been identified as a key factor in the appearance of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as it is related through a complex molecular biochemical and immunological mechanism. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between different scales that estimate the risk of IR and scales that determine the risk of NAFLD. This descriptive and cross-sectional study was performed in 219,477 Spanish workers from different sectors and Spanish regions. The prevalence of high values of all the IR scales increases as the values of the NAFLD and liver fibrosis scales increase. In the multivariate analysis, the risk of presenting high values in the IR scales increases greatly as the values of the NAFLD and hepatic fibrosis scales increase, with particularly high OR values when using the Metabolic Score for Insulin Resistance (METS-IR) scale (LAP high OR 42.20 (95% CI (39.10–45.56) and FLI high OR 32.35 (95% CI 31.10–33.61)). We can conclude that there is a direct relationship between the values of the IR scales and the NAFLD and liver fibrosis scales in our population.

Keywords

• liver fibrosis
• non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• type 2 diabetes
• insulin resistance
• scale risk