Associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as well as its progression to liver fibrosis: a cohort study

Abstract Background This study sought to examine the associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) as well as its progression to liver fibrosis. Methods This study comprised 25,366 subjects aged 18 years and older, free...

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Main Authors: Ziping Song, Xinlei Miao, Shuang Liu, Manling Hu, Xiaoling Xie, Yuting Sun, Song Leng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:Cardiovascular Diabetology
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-025-02716-6
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author Ziping Song
Xinlei Miao
Shuang Liu
Manling Hu
Xiaoling Xie
Yuting Sun
Song Leng
author_facet Ziping Song
Xinlei Miao
Shuang Liu
Manling Hu
Xiaoling Xie
Yuting Sun
Song Leng
author_sort Ziping Song
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background This study sought to examine the associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) as well as its progression to liver fibrosis. Methods This study comprised 25,366 subjects aged 18 years and older, free of MASLD at baseline, from the Dalian Health Management Cohort (DHMC). Cardiometabolic indices include cardiometabolic index (CMI), atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), triglyceride glucose (TyG), triglyceride glucose-body mass index (TyG-BMI), triglyceride glucose-waist circumference (TyG-WC) and triglyceride glucose-waist height ratio (TyG-WHtR). All participants were categorized into quartile groups based on cardiometabolic indices. Cox proportional hazards regression models and restricted cubic splines were employed to examine the relationship between cardiometabolic indices and the incidence of MASLD as well as its progression to liver fibrosis, and analyses were performed between different subgroups. Mediation analysis was employed to explore how obesity and inflammation serve as mediators in the connection between cardiometabolic indices and MASLD. To evaluate the predictive ability of cardiometabolic indices for the onset of MASLD, the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was utilized. Results A total of 5378 (21.2%) individuals developed MASLD during the follow-up period of 82,445 person-years. Multivariates Cox regression analyses showed that participants in the highest quartile of cardiometabolic indices had greater risk of MASLD than those in the lowest quartile (CMI: HR = 6.11, 95% CI 5.45–6.86; AIP: HR = 4.58, 95% CI 4.11–5.10; TyG: HR = 3.55, 95% CI 3.21–3.92; TyG-BMI: HR = 13.55, 95% CI 11.80–15.57; TyG-WC: HR = 12.52, 95% CI 10.93–14.34; TyG-WHtR: HR = 11.37, 95% CI 9.96–12.98). TyG-BMI (HR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.18–1.57), but not other cardiometabolic indices, was associated with liver fibrosis. Mediation analysis indicated that BMI mediated 40.4%, 33.2%, 36.5%, − 10.4%, 37.4%, 48.5% of the associations between CMI, AIP, TyG, TyG-BMI, TyG-WC, TyG-WHtR and MASLD. Time-dependent ROC curves demonstrated that TyG-BMI had a superior predictive ability for MASLD onset compared to other indicators. Conclusions The risk of developing MASLD increases as the level of cardiometabolic indices increases. Obesity may serve as a mediating factor in the aforementioned association. TyG-BMI showed the strongest association with the onset of MASLD and its progression to liver fibrosis, proved to be outperformed other cardiometabolic indicators, and could be the best clinical non-invasive biomarker for early screening of MASLD and liver fibrosis.
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spelling doaj-art-4752d4aa62a24ee49ebce440316cdc012025-08-20T03:04:59ZengBMCCardiovascular Diabetology1475-28402025-04-0124111210.1186/s12933-025-02716-6Associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as well as its progression to liver fibrosis: a cohort studyZiping Song0Xinlei Miao1Shuang Liu2Manling Hu3Xiaoling Xie4Yuting Sun5Song Leng6Health Management Center, The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical UniversityHealth Management Center, The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical UniversitySchool of Public Health, Dalian Medical UniversityDepartment of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical UniversitySchool of Public Health, Dalian Medical UniversityDepartment of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical UniversityHealth Management Center, The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical UniversityAbstract Background This study sought to examine the associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) as well as its progression to liver fibrosis. Methods This study comprised 25,366 subjects aged 18 years and older, free of MASLD at baseline, from the Dalian Health Management Cohort (DHMC). Cardiometabolic indices include cardiometabolic index (CMI), atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), triglyceride glucose (TyG), triglyceride glucose-body mass index (TyG-BMI), triglyceride glucose-waist circumference (TyG-WC) and triglyceride glucose-waist height ratio (TyG-WHtR). All participants were categorized into quartile groups based on cardiometabolic indices. Cox proportional hazards regression models and restricted cubic splines were employed to examine the relationship between cardiometabolic indices and the incidence of MASLD as well as its progression to liver fibrosis, and analyses were performed between different subgroups. Mediation analysis was employed to explore how obesity and inflammation serve as mediators in the connection between cardiometabolic indices and MASLD. To evaluate the predictive ability of cardiometabolic indices for the onset of MASLD, the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was utilized. Results A total of 5378 (21.2%) individuals developed MASLD during the follow-up period of 82,445 person-years. Multivariates Cox regression analyses showed that participants in the highest quartile of cardiometabolic indices had greater risk of MASLD than those in the lowest quartile (CMI: HR = 6.11, 95% CI 5.45–6.86; AIP: HR = 4.58, 95% CI 4.11–5.10; TyG: HR = 3.55, 95% CI 3.21–3.92; TyG-BMI: HR = 13.55, 95% CI 11.80–15.57; TyG-WC: HR = 12.52, 95% CI 10.93–14.34; TyG-WHtR: HR = 11.37, 95% CI 9.96–12.98). TyG-BMI (HR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.18–1.57), but not other cardiometabolic indices, was associated with liver fibrosis. Mediation analysis indicated that BMI mediated 40.4%, 33.2%, 36.5%, − 10.4%, 37.4%, 48.5% of the associations between CMI, AIP, TyG, TyG-BMI, TyG-WC, TyG-WHtR and MASLD. Time-dependent ROC curves demonstrated that TyG-BMI had a superior predictive ability for MASLD onset compared to other indicators. Conclusions The risk of developing MASLD increases as the level of cardiometabolic indices increases. Obesity may serve as a mediating factor in the aforementioned association. TyG-BMI showed the strongest association with the onset of MASLD and its progression to liver fibrosis, proved to be outperformed other cardiometabolic indicators, and could be the best clinical non-invasive biomarker for early screening of MASLD and liver fibrosis.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-025-02716-6Triglyceride-glucoseCardiometabolic indexMetabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver diseaseLiver fibrosisInsulin resistance
spellingShingle Ziping Song
Xinlei Miao
Shuang Liu
Manling Hu
Xiaoling Xie
Yuting Sun
Song Leng
Associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as well as its progression to liver fibrosis: a cohort study
Cardiovascular Diabetology
Triglyceride-glucose
Cardiometabolic index
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
Liver fibrosis
Insulin resistance
title Associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as well as its progression to liver fibrosis: a cohort study
title_full Associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as well as its progression to liver fibrosis: a cohort study
title_fullStr Associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as well as its progression to liver fibrosis: a cohort study
title_full_unstemmed Associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as well as its progression to liver fibrosis: a cohort study
title_short Associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease as well as its progression to liver fibrosis: a cohort study
title_sort associations between cardiometabolic indices and the onset of metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease as well as its progression to liver fibrosis a cohort study
topic Triglyceride-glucose
Cardiometabolic index
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
Liver fibrosis
Insulin resistance
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-025-02716-6
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