Correlation between non-alcoholic fatty liver with metabolic risk factors and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity

AIM: To assess the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) with metabolic risk factors and brachial ankle pulse wave velocity(ba PWV). METHODS: A total of 8603 subjects(6662 males and 1941 females) were enrolled during an annual health check-up. Fatty liver was examined using a Philips HD 11 XE multi-function color Doppler diagnostic instrument, and ba PWV was determined using a novel arteriosclerosis detection device. Blood pressure(BP), fasting plasma glucose(FPG), waist circumference( W C), p l a s m a t r i g l y c e r i d e s( TG), h i g h- d e n s i t y lipoprotein(HDL), total cholesterol(TC), low-density lipoprotein(LDL) and uric acid(UA) were measured using standard methods. The relationship between fatty liver with metabolic risk factors and ba PWV was analyzed using regression analysis and the χ2 test. RESULTS: The values and abnormal rates of ba PWV were significantly different between NAFLD patients and non-NAFLD subjects(P < 0.001). In addition, the values of ba PWV were different by gender between NAFLD patients and non-NAFLD subjects. The OR values in females, males, and the entire population were 3.33, 1.67, and 2.13, respectively(P < 0.001). The incidence of high ba PWV increased with increasing degree of NAFLD(levels 0, 1, 2, and 3)(P < 0.001), which was 45.9%, 54.5%, 60.2%, and 71.4% in malesand 27.0%, 49.1%, 55.60%, and 60.0% in females(P < 0.001), respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that the OR value for ba PWV in the nonmetabolic syndrome group and the metabolic syndrome group was 1.28 vs 1.14(males) and 2.55 vs 0.98(females). The OR values for ba PWV in the non-high-BP and high-BP, non-high-WC and high-WC, non-high-FPG and high-FPG, non-high-TG and high-TG, non-high-HDL and high-HDL, non-high-TC and high-TC, non-high-LDL and high-LDL, non-high-UA and high-UA groups were 3.38 vs 1.19, 3.50 vs 1.44, 2.80 vs 2.30, 3.29 vs 1.88, 3.03 vs 3.28, 3.35 vs 2.70, 3.93 vs 1.66, and 3.20 vs 2.34, respectively, in females(P < 0.001), and were 1.37 vs 1.34, 1.56 vs 1.26, 1.51 vs 1.28, 1.49 vs 1.52, 1.71 vs 1.61, 1.59 vs 1.74, 1.76 vs 1.47, and 1.73 vs 1.54, respectively, in males(P < 0.01). The OR value for ba PWV was still higher than 1.2(1.21 in males and 1.40 in females) after adjustment for the metabolic component(0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and above)(P < 0.01).CONCLUSION: NAFLD is closely correlated with ba PWV, particularly in females. NAFLD has a large impact on ba PWV, no matter whether the metabolic index is increased or not. NAFLD may be a useful indicator for assessing early arteriosclerosis.

Association between social health status and depressive symptoms among community-dwelling elderly adults in Zhejiang Province, China

Objective:Mental disorders of the elderly population in China deserve attention.Social health is significantly associated with depression.This study aimed to evaluate the rate of depressive symptoms and to test the relationships between social health and depressive symptoms among a large sample of community-dwelling elderly adults.Methods:We conducted a cross-sectional study among community-dwelling adults aged 60 years or above in Zhejiang Province,China.Face-to-face interviews were used to complete a structured questionnaire for all participants.We used the Social Health Scale for the Elderly(SHSE)to evaluate social health status and used the short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale to evaluate depressive symptoms.Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the asso?ciation between social health status and depressive symptoms.Results:Of the total of 3757 participants included,1887(50.23%)were female,and the mean±standard deviation(SD)age was(70.0±8.3)years.The rate of depressive symptoms was 25.92%.The social health score was higher in non?depressed participants than in depressed participants(raw score 50.7 vs.48.3,P<0.001).Participants with"moderate”or"good”social health had a significantly lower risk of depressive symptoms than those with“poor"social health(odds ratio(OR)=0.55,95%con fide nee interval(Cl):0.46-0.66 for moderate social health;OR=0.45,95%Cl:0.35-0.60 for good social health).The association between social health and depressive symptoms was con sistent across several subgroups.Con clusi ons:Social health is signify cantly inversely associated with depressive symptoms.The SHSE may serve as an efficient screener to identify those elderly adults with social health deficits,but systematic assessment to guide intervention merits further investigation.