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Updated: Aug 25, 2025

Author Spotlight: Assessing the Cardiovascular Profile of Patients with Metabolic Syndrome
Published on: September 27, 2024
Non-obese NAFLD had no better cardio-metabolic risk profile than obese NAFLD in type 2 diabetic patients
Ziyin Zhang1,2, Lu Zhang1,2, Wangyan Jiang1,2
1Department of Endocrinology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430030, Wuhan, China.
Background:
Non-obese non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been reported to share clinical outcomes with its obese counterpart in the general population. However, conflicting results have been observed regarding the cardio-metabolic risk profile of non-obese NAFLD as compared to obese NAFLD. Moreover, in the context of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), this issue has been even less addressed. We hence aimed to examine the association of NAFLD with the cardio-metabolic risk profile in patients with T2DM according to their obesity status.
Methods:
A total of 2,708 patients with T2DM who were hospitalized between June 2018 and May 2021 were cross-sectionally assessed.
Results:
The prevalence of NAFLD was 49.3%. NAFLD was found in 34.1% of non-obese patients and 66.0% of obese patients. Non-obese NAFLD patients had more and worse metabolic disorders than obese patients without NAFLD in both men and women. Comparable cardio-metabolic risk profiles were noted between non-obese and obese NAFLD subjects. The associations of worse cardio-metabolic risk profiles with NAFLD were overall stronger in non-obese than in obese subjects among women with T2DM, while more pronounced in obese than in non-obese subjects among men with T2DM.
Conclusion:
In patients with T2DM, non-obese NAFLD had no better cardio-metabolic risk profile than obese NAFLD. The associations of metabolic disorders with NAFLD were stronger in non-obese than in obese patients in women patients with T2DM.
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