Association Between Thyroid Hormone Levels and Advanced Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of serum thyroid hormone levels on advanced liver fibrosis in cases with NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) and T2DM (type 2 diabetes mellitus). Patients and Methods: A total of 1422 cases with T2DM who were admitted to Peking University International Hospital between December 2014 and October 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Standard anthropometry as well as clinical and laboratory evaluation were performed on all patients. Abdominal ultrasonography was performed to diagnose NAFLD. NFS (NAFLD fibrosis score) was used to identify advanced fibrosis in patients with T2DM and NAFLD. Results: In cases with T2DM and NAFLD, the serum FT3 level in cases with advanced fibrosis was lower than that in those without advanced fibrosis (4.79 +/- 0.89 vs 4.28 +/- 1.19, P < 0.05), and significant difference was not found in serum levels of FT4 and TSH between cases with advanced fibrosis and those without advanced fibrosis (P > 0.05). The incidence of advanced fibrosis declined as the rise of serum FT3 levels (P-trend < 0.05). Besides, FT3 (OR, 0.492; 95% CI, 0.384-0.631) was noted as a factor influencing advanced fibrosis in cases with T2DM and NAFLD (P<0.05). Conclusion: In cases with T2DM and NAFLD, the incidence of advanced fibrosis is negatively correlated with serum FT3 levels, and a low FT3 level is an independent risk factor of advanced fibrosis.

Automated summary

This study found that in patients with T2DM and NAFLD, lower serum FT3 levels were associated with a higher likelihood of advanced fibrosis, and an increase in FT3 levels was correlated with a decrease in the rate of advanced fibrosis.