Risk Factors for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Postmenopausal Women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and the Correlation with Bone Mineral Density at Different Locations

Abstract

Objective

To explore the risk factors for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the correlation with bone mineral density (BMD) in different areas of the body.

Methods

A total of 434 postmenopausal women with T2DM were enrolled and categorized as 198 patients in the NAFLD group and 236 patients in the non-NAFLD group based on color Doppler ultrasound of the liver. The BMD of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

Results

In postmenopausal women with T2DM, the prevalence of NAFLD was 45.6%. The body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), triacylglycerol (TG), uric acid (UA), and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) C-peptide (CP) were significantly higher in the NAFLD group than in the non-NFALD group, and the duration of diabetes, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were lower than in the non-NAFLD group (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that BMI (odds ratio [OR] = 1.303, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.152–1.346), HbA1c (OR = 1.263, 95% CI: 1.095–1.392), TG (OR = 1.263, 95% CI: 1.031–1.601), and SUA (OR = 1.005, 95% CI: 1.001–1.007) were correlated with NAFLD (P < 0.05). The BMD of the total hip and femoral neck in the NAFLD group was higher than in the non-NAFLD group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Complicated NAFLD in postmenopausal women with T2DM is associated with weight gain, poor blood glucose control, abnormal lipid metabolism, and elevated UA levels. In addition, the NAFLD group had higher femoral neck and total hip BMD than the non-NAFLD group, suggesting NAFLD in postmenopausal women with T2DM may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Keywords:

• postmenopausal period
• type 2 diabetes mellitus
• nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
• bone mineral density

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

I confirm that I have read the Editorial Policy pages. This study was conducted with approval from the Ethics Committee of The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University (YX2020-011). This study was conducted in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

Joint Research Fund for Prevention and Control of chronic diseases of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University and Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No:MBLHJJ202005).