Prevalence and risk factors of liver steatosis and fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective To summarize the occurrence of hepatic steatosis and hepatic fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and to explore the related influencing factors. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 697 T2DM patients hospitalized in Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University from November 2022 to January 2024. Liver steatosis and fibrosis were assessed using ultrasonic transient elastography, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the influencing factors of liver steatosis and fibrosis. Results The prevalence of hepatic steatosis in T2DM patients was 77.6% (541/697), with moderate to severe steatosis accounting for 54.1%; 36.0% (251/697) of patients presented with liver fibrosis, and 6.3% (44/697) were diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. Body mass index (BMI) (OR=1.407, 95%CI: 1.287-1.539), triglyceride (OR=1.393, 95%CI: 1.084-1.791), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (OR=0.414, 95%CI: 0.189-0.907) were independent influencing factors for liver steatosis in T2DM patients (P＜0.05); BMI was an independent influencing factor for liver fibrosis in T2DM patients (OR=1.153, 95%CI: 1.088-1.221,P＜0.01). Conclusion The prevalence of liver steatosis and fibrosis is high in T2DM patients, with high BMI being the main risk factors for liver steatosis and fibrosis in T2DM patients, and poor blood lipid control being also the main risk factor for liver steatosis.