Type 2 Diabetes Subtypes and Their Role in Metabolic Liver Disease and Fibrosis Progression

BACKGROUND The relationship between different subgroups of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and the progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and liver fibrosis has not been thoroughly studied. This study aims to determine the association between T2D subgroups and the risk of developing advanced liver fibrosis using the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index, a non-invasive marker for assessing liver fibrosis risk. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 1205 patients with T2D were categorized into 4 distinct subgroups: severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIDD), severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD), mild obesity-related diabetes (MOD), and mild age-related diabetes (MARD). The FIB-4 index was calculated for each patient to estimate the degree of liver fibrosis, with the following cutoff points: <1.3 indicating no or mild fibrosis, 1.3-2.67 suggesting moderate fibrosis, and >2.67 indicating advanced fibrosis (F3-F4). Logistic regression was used to compare the odds of advanced fibrosis across these subgroups. RESULTS The SIRD subgroup exhibited significantly higher odds of advanced liver fibrosis (F3-F4), compared with the other subgroups, as indicated by elevated FIB-4 scores (P<0.05). In contrast, the SIDD and MOD subgroups had lower odds of advanced fibrosis, while the MARD subgroup showed an intermediate association. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that the FIB-4 index, as a noninvasive assessment tool, effectively stratifies liver fibrosis risk among different T2D subgroups. This stratification can inform more personalized management strategies for patients with MASLD, underscoring the importance of accounting for the heterogeneity within T2D in clinical assessments of liver fibrosis risk.