Relationship between hematocrit and the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A follow-up observation for five years

Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship between hematocrit(HCT) and the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.Methods A community-based health examination survey in individuals who were randomly selected from residents living in the urban area of Xuzhou was carried out in 2006.2 798 subjects without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease were included in the present study.Subjects were divided into two groups according to HCT level,group A (HCT ≤ 0.49 L/L) and group B (HCT ＞ 0.49 L/L).Serum alanine aminotransferase,aspartate aminotransferase,triglycerides,total cholesterol,high density lipoprotein-cholesterol,low density lipoproteincholesterol,fasting plasma glucose,and imaging examinations were determined.Results The prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was higher in group B than that in group A (26.5％ vs 15.9％,P＜0.01),and the difference was statistically significant.Logistic regression showed that the incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was increased along with elevated levels of HCT.Conclusions HCT is found to be correlated with the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Key words: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease ; Hematocrit ; Incidence