Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is Associated with Increased Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Type 1 Diabetic Patients

A growing body of evidence suggests that NAFLD is associated with an increased risk of incident CVD events both in patients without diabetes and in those with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, no published data are available regarding the association between NAFLD and C-IMT in T1DM. A total of 722 patients (371 men) with T1DM were included in this cross-sectional study. The main outcome measures were detection of NAFLD, C-IMT and classical risk factors. The mean age of the subjects was 46.2 years, and 51.1% were male. The prevalence of NAFLD was 15.9%. NAFLD patients had a markedly greater C-IMT (0.81 ± 0.25 vs. 0.69 ± 0.18 mm; p < 0.001) and frequency of carotid plaque (28.9% vs. 16.9%; p < 0.05) than those without fatty liver. Moreover, the differences in C-IMT remained after adjusting for potential confounders. A stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that age (standardized β, 0.326; p < 0.001), NAFLD (standardized β, 0.151, p < 0.001), and hsCRP (standardized β, 0.115, p = 0.008) were independently associated with C-IMT in all subjects. Our data show NAFLD is associated with elevated C-IMT in T1DM independent of conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors.