Correlation of triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease among the non-obese Chinese population with normal blood lipid levels: a retrospective cohort research

Abstract

Abstract Background Although nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is commonly seen in metabolic abnormalities patients, NAFLD is also occurred in the non-obese individuals. The ratio of triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) is considered as a predictive factor of NAFLD. However, it is still difficult to confirm the correlation of TG/HDL-C ratio with NAFLD among non-obese Chinese people with normal blood lipid levels. In our study, it is aimed to analyze the correlation of TG/HDL-C ratio with NAFLD among non-obese Chinese population without dyslipidemia. Methods In the retrospective cohort study, 9838 non-obese subjects who were free of NAFLD were enrolled. NAFLD was diagnosed by ultrasonography. Results During the median follow-up period of 2.9 years, cumulative incidence of NAFLD in non-obesity individuals was 8.69% among the overall population; meanwhile, its incidence was gradually enhanced across the quartiles of TG/HDL-C ratio (0.61, 1.28, 2.55 and 4.25% respectively). Then the multivariate factors were adjusted. The multivariate cox regression analysis results showed that the hazard ratio of NAFLD in higher quartiles (Q2-Q4) was 2.10 (1.33–3.32), 3.11 (2.03–4.75) and 3.40 (2.24–5.17), respectively. Besides, the area under receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) of TG/HDL-C ratio in the male was 0.70 (0.68–0.72) and 0.72 (0.70–0.75) in the female. The final values were dramatically larger than the other lipid index. Conclusion There is an independent relationship between TG/HDL-C and NAFLD among non-obese Chinese population without dyslipidemia, and TG/HDL-C may be used as a better predictor for NAFLD.

Keywords

• TG/HDL-C ratio
• Non-obese NAFLD
• Chinese