Association Between Serum Uric Acid Levels and Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease in Southeast China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Shutong Ren; Siyu Chen; Jingru Huang; Rong Yu; Yunli Wu; Xian-E Peng

doi:10.2147/DMSO.S476045

Association Between Serum Uric Acid Levels and Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease in Southeast China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2024 Sep 7:17:3343-3354. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S476045. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Shutong Ren^#¹, Siyu Chen^#², Jingru Huang³, Rong Yu¹, Yunli Wu⁴, Xian-E Peng^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Environment Factors and Cancer, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, People's Republic of China.
² State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, National Innovation Platform for Industry-Education Integration in Vaccine Research, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361104, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Clinical Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, 350122, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Cancer (Fujian Medical University), Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore the association between serum uric acid (sUA) levels and metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in Southeast China.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of 2605 subjects who underwent physical examination between 2015 and 2017 in Southeast China. To explore the association between sUA levels and the risk of MAFLD, we employed logistic regression, restricted cubic spline (RCS), subgroups and multiplicative interaction analysis.

Results: Logistic regression analysis showed a positive association between sUA and MAFLD [aOR _{total population} (95% CI)= 1.90 (1.49 ~ 2.42)], [aOR _male (95% CI)= 2.01 (1.54 ~ 2.62)], [aOR _female (95% CI)= 1.15 (0.62 ~ 2.11)], respectively. The RCS plot presented a significant nonlinear dose-response relationship between sUA levels and MAFLD risk, and the risk of MAFLD increased significantly when sUA> 5.56 mg/dL (P _nonlinear< 0.001). Subgroups analysis revealed that the positive association between sUA and MAFLD was consistent across strata of gender, age, BMI, drinking status, smoking status and tea drinking status. Significant associations between sUA and MAFLD were not only found in males but also existed in subjects whose age ≤60, BMI ≥24 kg/m², drinkers, smokers and tea-drinkers. Adjusted ORs were estimated to be 2.01, 1.95, 2.11, 2.29, 2.64 and 2.20, respectively. Multiplicative interactions were not observed between gender, age, drinking status, smoking status, tea drinking status and sUA (all P _interaction> 0.05).

Conclusion: According to our study, sUA was positively associated with the risk of MAFLD. Additionally, the risk of MAFLD increased significantly when sUA levels exceeded 5.56 mg/dL. Our study may help clarify whether sUA plays a diagnostic role in MAFLD.

Keywords: cross-sectional study; metabolic-associated fatty liver disease; risk; serum uric acid.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81473047), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (No. 2019J01316), and the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (No. 2023J01628).