The correlation study of liver enzymes level and risk of type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between serum liver enzymes and onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

METHODS: A total of 8 779 individuals subjected to a Zhengzhou community survey were enrolled in the study and were tested for the following serum biochemical parameters, including ALT, AST, γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT), TC, TG and blood glucose. All subjects were divided into four groups (Q1-Q4) according to the quartiles of their liver enzyme levels. Logistic regression was performed to explore the odd ratio (OR) for the onset of T2DM in groups of Q2-Q4 compared with the group of Q1.ROC curve was used to analyze the predictive value of elevated liver enzymes for the onset of T2DM.

RESULTS: When the quartiles were defined by the GGT level, compared with the group of Q1, the OR for the group of Q4 was 4.043 (95%CI 2.759-5.924) in the male and 4.239 (95%CI 3.172-5.664) in the female, which was higher than the OR when the quartiles were defined by the ALT level. In the ROC curve, the AUC of GGT was larger than those of ALT, AST, BMI, waist circumference and TG, with 0.63 for the male and 0.68 for the female.

CONCLUSIONS: Serum level of GGT is more closely correlated with the onset of T2MD than the level of ALT or AST. Even the increase of serum GGT within physiological range is a risk factor for the onset of T2DM.