SEX- AND AGE-SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FATTY LIVER INDEX AS WELL AS FIBROSIS-4 SCORE AND ARTERIAL STIFFNESS: RESULTS FROM FUZHOU STUDY

Objective: Fatty liver and the liver fibrosis are known risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Arterial stiffness is one of the important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and strongly related with the cardiovascular mortality. However, the relationship between fatty liver index as well as Fibrosis-4 score and arterial stiffness is still controversial.Design and method: 2905 subjects (aged 59.59±11.54 years, male 69.85%, hypertension 64.61%) were divided into subgroups base on the level of fatty liver index (FLI),or Fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4 score)(FLI ∼30, 30∼60, ∼60;∼1.45, 1.45∼3.25, ∼3.25). Body weight, height, waist circumference and blood pressure were measured and clinical biochemical tests were recorded. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) was measured using a non-invasive automatic device (Complior Analysis, France). Results: The level of cfPWV was significantly increased with the rising level of both FLI and FIB-4 score both in male and female (male: 9.10±1.98 vs 9.41±1.94 vs9.52±1.78 m/s, 9.01±1.80 vs 9.80±2.03 vs 10.95±2.39 m/s, female: 8.85±1.86 vs 9.31±1.94 vs 9.78±1.97 m/s,8.77±1.79 vs 9.52±1.97 vs 11.40±2.57 m/s). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that age, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, gender, HbA1c, creatine, HDL-C were independent risk factors of cfPWV in all subjects. However, after grouped by gender, the age, systolic blood pressure, HbA1c, heart rate, fasting blood glucose and FIB-4 score were independent risk factors of cfPWV rather than FLI in female. However, in male, the age, systolic blood pressure, HbA1c, heart rate, creatine and FLI but not FIB-4 score were independent risk factors. In addition, after stratified by both gender and age, FIB-4 core was independent risk factor only in female aged over 60 years old. Conclusions: In addition to the age, blood pressure and heart rate, FIB-4 score was one of important predictor of arterial stiffening special in females who aged over 60 years old.