Association between serum ferritin and uric acid levels and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the Chinese population

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing worldwide. Accumulating evidence suggests that serum ferritin and uric acid (UA) are strongly associated with the risk of NAFLD, but no consensus has been reached. OBJECTIVE: We sought to demonstrate the association between serum ferritin, UA levels, and NAFLD risk in a large cohort study. METHODS: We separated 2,049 patients into non-NAFLD and NAFLD groups. The NAFLD group had four subgroups based on serum ferritin and four subgroups based on UA quartile levels. We used binary logistic regression to evaluate the correlation between serum ferritin, UA, and NAFLD. Additionally, an area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic analysis (ROC) was used to predict the diagnostic value of combined serum ferritin and UA for NAFLD. RESULTS: Serum ferritin and UA levels were higher in the NAFLD group compared with the non-NAFLD group. Serum lipid and liver transaminase concentrations were elevated with the increase of serum ferritin and UA. The logistic regression results showed an independent correlation between serum ferritin, UA, and NAFLD. In the NAFLD group, the AUC value of serum ferritin and UA was 0.771. CONCLUSIONS: Increased serum ferritin and UA levels are independent risk factors for NAFLD. Increased serum UA is a stronger risk factor for NAFLD than elevated serum ferritin. Serum ferritin and UA can be important predictors of NAFLD risk.