Association of Fetuin-B with Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Obese Chinese Adults

Aim: We aimed to explore the independent associations of serum Fetuin-B and common genetic variants in FETUB locus with subclinical atherosclerosis. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 1,140 obese adults, who underwent serum Fetuin-B testing, hepatic ultrasonography scanning, genotyping on four tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in FETUB locus and atherosclerosis detection, was conducted in Xiamen, China. Results: Increasing tertiles of brachial ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) were significantly associated with higher prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (48.8%, 61.5%, and 70.5% for tertiles of 1–3, respectively, p < 0.001) and serum Fetuin-B (3.85 ± 1.39, 4.09 ± 1.40, and 4.27 ± 1.46 µg/ml, p = 0.047). Multivariable linear regression analyses with adjustment for potential confounding factors, even NAFLD per se, showed that serum Fetuin-B were significantly and positively associated with ba-PWV, with standardized regression coefficients (β) ranging from 0.055 to 0.075 (all p-values < 0.05) in different models. However, the significant relationship between serum Fetuin-B and ba-PWV disappeared with further adjustment for insulin resistance. Serum Fetuin-B was not significantly associated with ankle-brachial index (ABI). All genotypes of the four tested FETUB tagging SNPs were not significantly associated with either ba-PWV or ABI with adjustment for potential confounding factors Conclusion: Serum Fetuin-B was positively associated with ba-PWV and may link liver fat accumulation to subclinical atherosclerosis via insulin resistance.