Positive Association Between the Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Lean Adults.

Abstract

Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI) is a novel indicator that precisely evaluates visceral obesity and has been shown to be significantly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the general population. However, the relationship between CVAI and NAFLD in lean adults remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the association of CVAI with NAFLD in a lean population and evaluate the diagnostic capability of CVAI for lean NAFLD. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 9,607 lean adults (body mass index < 24kg/m2), who underwent their annual health examinations at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine in 2021. NAFLD was determined by ultrasonography to the exclusion of other known etiologies. The prevalence of NAFLD was 16.4% in this lean population. CVAI values were significantly higher in participants with NAFLD than those without NAFLD and the CVAI quartile was positively associated with the prevalence of NAFLD, which was 0.4%, 6.0%, 19.4%, and 39.8% among the participants with CVAI in quartile 1 to 4, respectively (P for trend < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis found that CVAI was positively associated with the risk of NAFLD (adjusted odds ratio: 1.025, 95% confidence interval: 1.021-1.028; P < 0.001). Furthermore, CVAI had a significantly higher area under curve value for detecting NAFLD than other visceral obesity indices. Our study showed that CVAI was positively associated with the prevalence and risk of NAFLD in lean adults, and CVAI showed the highest diagnostic ability for lean NAFLD.