Association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes: A bidirectional two-sample mendelian randomization study

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore the mutually causal relationship between NAFLD and type 2 diabetes. MethodsBased on the data obtained from GWAS, this study employed bidirectional two-sample MR analysis to investigate the causal relationship between NAFLD and type 2 diabetes, and also examined the causal relationship between liver fat accumulation and type 2 diabetes as well as the relationship between NAFLD and FPG, IR. ResultsIn MR analysis of NAFLD and type 2 diabetes, when NAFLD as an exposure and type 2 diabetes as a result, the OR (95 % CI) was 1.10890 (1.00135–1.22801); in the reverse analysis, the OR value was not statistically significant. In MR analysis of NAFLD, FPG and IR, there was no statistical significance in both directions. In MR analysis of liver fat accumulation and type 2 diabetes, when liver fat as an exposure and type 2 diabetes as a result, the OR (95 % CI) was 1.17516 (1.02054–1.35321); in the reverse analysis, the OR value (95 % CI) was 1.06283 (1.02879–1.09799). ConclusionThere is a unidirectional causal relationship between NAFLD and type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, a bidirectional causal relationship exists between liver fat accumulation and type 2 diabetes.