Relationship between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and uric acid level in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective To investigate the relationship between occurrence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and serum uric acid level in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods A total of 225 elderly patients with T2DM, over 60 years old, admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from December 2017 to August 2018 were selected as research objects. And their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 122 patients with NAFLD were allocated into DN group, and 103 patients without NAFLD were set as DM group. Age, body mass index (BMI), serum uric acid, total bilirubin (TBIL), direct bilirubin (BILD), indirect bilirubin (IBLD), total bile acid (TBA), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TCHO), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) of all patients were recorded and analyzed. Results The levels of uric acid, ALT, AST, GGT, BMI and TG in DN group were significantly higher than those of DM group, however, the age and course of disease of DN group were significantly lower than those of DM group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that BMI, blood uric acid and TG were independent risk factors of occurrence of NAFLD in elderly T2DM patients (P<0.05). Conclusions There is a close independent correlation of serum uric acid, TG and BMI with NAFLD in elderly T2DM patients. It is necessary to focus on the control of blood uric acid in elderly patients with T2DM to reduce the occurrence rate of NAFLD. Key words: Blood uric acid; Elderly; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Nonalcoholic fatty liver