Association between novel inflammatory markers and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to investigate the association between novel inflammatory markers (NIMs) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

A total of 6306 subjects were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. NIMs, including neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR), lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and prognostic nutritional index (PNI), were calculated. The prevalence of NAFLD and its association with NIMs were assessed by multivariable logistic regression analysis. Subgroup analysis were performed based on age, sex and BMI.

The prevalence of NAFLD was 52.5% in the study population. Compared with non-NAFLD subjects, NAFLD patients were older and more frequent in females. The prevalence of NAFLD progressively increased among the higher quartile groups of CAR, LMR, SII and PNI ( P -trend < 0.05), whereas it progressively decreased among the higher quartile group of NLR and PLR ( P -trend < 0.05). According to multivariable logistic regression analysis, the highest quartile (Q4) had a significantly higher risk of NAFLD compared with Q1 in LMR [odds ratio (OR): 1.43; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.17-1.75; P -trend < 0.001] and PNI (OR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.57-2.35; P -trend < 0.001). The subgroup analysis showed a stronger association of PNI with NAFLD.

The study highlights the association between NIMs and NAFLD, with LMR and PNI identified as potential non-invasive markers of inflammation in NAFLD. Specifically, PNI exhibited the strongest association and may serve as a valuable marker for assessing inflammation in NAFLD.