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Objectives: The precise prevalence and risk factors for the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in nonobese adults remains unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of NAFLD and risk factors for its development in a nonobese Chinese population., Methods: We firstly investigated the prevalence and factors associated with the presence of NAFLD in nonobese (body mass index (BMI) <25 kg/m(2)) Chinese subjects via a cross-sectional study, and then analyzed the risk factors for the development of NAFLD via a subsequent prospective 5-year follow-up of the same population., Results: A total of 6,905 nonobese subjects were enrolled in the cross-sectional study. Baseline evaluation revealed that the prevalence of NAFLD was 7.27%. A total of 5,562 subjects who were free of NAFLD at baseline completed the follow-up study, and 494 (8.88%) had developed NAFLD during the 5-year follow-up. Further analyses revealed that age, gender, BMI, waist circumference, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, serum uric acid, hemoglobin, and platelet count were independently associated with the presence and development of NAFLD., Conclusions: NAFLD is prevalent in the nonobese Chinese population, and a substantial proportion of subjects developed NAFLD over the 5-year follow-up period. Special attention should be paid to the factors associated with the presence and development of NAFLD in nonobese subjects, to improve prevention and management of NAFLD.

Background: To investigate the association between serum glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in an elderly Chinese population., Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed among the 949 retired elderly employees of Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company Ltd., Ningbo, China., Results: A total of 257 (27.08%) subjects fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of NAFLD, and NAFLD patients had significantly higher serum HbA1c levels than controls (P <0.001). The prevalence of NAFLD was significantly higher in subjects with increased serum HbA1c level (HbA1c ≥6.5%) than in those with normal range of serum HbA1c level (51.71% vs. 25.20%; P <0.001), and the prevalence increased along with progressively higher serum HbA1c levels (P for trend <0.001). Stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that serum HbA1c level was significantly associated with the risk for NAFLD (odds ratio: 1.547, 95% confidence interval: 1.054 - 2.270; P =0.026)., Conclusions: Our results suggest that serum HbA1c level is associated with NAFLD, and increased serum HbA1c level is an independent risk factor for NAFLD in elderly Chinese.

Background. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases. Machine learning techniques were introduced to evaluate the optimal predictive clinical model of NAFLD. Methods. A cross-sectional study was performed with subjects who attended a health examination at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University. Questionnaires, laboratory tests, physical examinations, and liver ultrasonography were employed. Machine learning techniques were then implemented using the open source software Weka. The tasks included feature selection and classification. Feature selection techniques built a screening model by removing the redundant features. Classification was used to build a prediction model, which was evaluated by the F-measure. 11 state-of-the-art machine learning techniques were investigated. Results. Among the 10,508 enrolled subjects, 2,522 (24%) met the diagnostic criteria of NAFLD. By leveraging a set of statistical testing techniques, BMI, triglycerides, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (γGT), the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and uric acid were the top 5 features contributing to NAFLD. A 10-fold cross-validation was used in the classification. According to the results, the Bayesian network model demonstrated the best performance from among the 11 different techniques. It achieved accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and F-measure scores of up to 83%, 0.878, 0.675, and 0.655, respectively. Compared with logistic regression, the Bayesian network model improves the F-measure score by 9.17%. Conclusion. Novel machine learning techniques may have screening and predictive value for NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Caveolin1 (CAV1) is involved in lipid homeostasis and endocytosis, but little is known about the significance of CAV1 in the pathogenesis and development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aimed to determine the role of CAV1 in NAFLD. Methods: Expression of CAV1 in the in vitro and in vivo models of NAFLD was analyzed. The effects of CAV1 knockdown or overexpression on free fatty acid (FFA)-induced lipid accumulation in L02 cells and AML12 cells were determined. CAV1 knockout (CAV1-KO) mice and their wild-type (WT) littermates were subjected to a high fat diet (HFD) for 4 weeks, and the functional consequences of losing the CAV1 gene and its subsequent molecular mechanisms were also examined. Results: Noticeably, CAV1 expression was markedly reduced in NAFLD. CAV1 knockdown led to the aggravation of steatosis that was induced by FFA in both L02 cells and AML12 cells, while CAV1 overexpression markedly attenuated lipid accumulation in the cells. Consistent with CAV1 repression in the livers of HFD-induced mice, the CAV1-KO mice exhibited more severe hepatic steatosis upon HFD intake. In addition, increased cholesterol levels and elevated transaminases were detected in the plasma of CAV1-KO mice. The protein expression of SREBP1, a key gene involved in lipogenesis, was augmented following CAV1 suppression in FFA-treated hepatocytes and in the livers of HFD-fed CAV1-KO mice. Conclusions: CAV1 serves as an important protective factor in the development of NAFLD by modulating lipid metabolism gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim. To investigate the association between serum sialic acid (SA) levels and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a nonobese Chinese population. Methods. A cross-sectional study was performed among the 5916 adults who took their annual health examinations at International Health Care Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, from December 2013 to November 2014. Results. A total of 693 (11.71%) subjects fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of NAFLD, and NAFLD patients had significantly higher serum SA levels than controls (P<0.001). The prevalence of NAFLD was positively associated with serum SA levels (P for trend <0.001). Serum sialic acid levels are significantly associated with features of metabolic syndrome (Ps<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum SA level was significantly associated with risk for NAFLD (odds ratio: 1.018, 95%; confidence interval: 1.007–1.030; P=0.002). Conclusions. Our results suggest for the first time that NAFLD patients had higher serum SA level than controls, and increased serum SA level is significantly associated with risk for NAFLD in a large nonobese Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a gap between the association of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and renal function in an apparently healthy population. This study aims to assess whether NAFLD is associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) levels and to understand early changes of eGFR in NAFLD. A cross-sectional study was performed among apparently healthy persons who underwent general health screening including laboratory assessments and hepatic ultrasonography from January 2013 to December 2013 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, College of Medicine, China. This study included 1,193 subjects with a mean age of 48 years. Prevalence of NAFLD was 31.3%. Mean eGFR was significantly lower in NAFLD than in controls (107 ± 19 mL/min/1.73 m2 vs. 113 ± 23 mL/min/1.73 m2, P<0.001). Correlation analysis between eGFR and NAFLD related risk factors revealed an inverse correlation between eGFR levels and some NAFLD risk factors (all P<0.01). All subjects were classified into five phases according to age. Average eGFR levels of NAFLD were lower than controls in three phases for subjects with ≤ 50 years of age (all P<0.05), while there were no significant differences on average eGFR levels between NAFLD and controls in two phases for subjects with >50 years of age (Both P>0.05). The eGFR level is significantly associated with NAFLD and its risk factors in an apparently healthy population. Effects of NAFLD on eGFR could be dependent on age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]