Lijuan Yu, Nan Jiang, Huichun Wu, Jie Li, Shenjie Xu
{"title":"Psoas Muscle Index, Systemic Inflammation, and Liver Fibrosis in MAFLD: A Case-Control Study.","authors":"Lijuan Yu, Nan Jiang, Huichun Wu, Jie Li, Shenjie Xu","doi":"10.2147/DMSO.S521829","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Investigating psoas muscle index (PMI) as a potential biomarker for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and hepatic fibrosis through a case-control study.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This case-control study enrolled 80 MAFLD patients and 80 healthy controls from our hospital (2023-2024). Abdominal CT-derived PMI, inflammatory markers, and FIB-4 scores were assessed. ROC and logistic regression analyses evaluated PMI's diagnostic potential for MAFLD and associated fibrosis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 160 patients met the inclusion criteria. Compared with the non-MAFLD group, the PMI and systemic inflammatory indicators in the MAFLD group were higher. In MAFLD patients, PMI was significantly correlated with systemic inflammation indicators, including the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (P<0.001, P=0.038, and P<0.001, respectively). ROC curve analysis showed that the areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of PMI and other systemic inflammatory indicators (PLR, NLR, LMR, SII) for diagnosing MAFLD were 0.615, 0.526, 0.956, 0.803, and 0.674, respectively. The AUC of PMI combined with LMR, NLR, and LMR plus NLR for diagnosing MAFLD were 0.547, 0.585, and 0.572, respectively. FIB-4 was linearly correlated with PMI and systemic inflammatory indicators (PLR, NLR, SII) (r=-0.208, P=0.008; r=-0.211, P=0.007; r=0.327, P<0.001; r=0.164, P=0.039). The combination of PMI and systemic inflammatory indicators (PLR, NLR, SII) demonstrated a good diagnostic ability for liver fibrosis in MAFLD (AUC=0.602, P=0.003).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>PMI significantly correlates with systemic inflammation and hepatic fibrosis in MAFLD patients, serving as a diagnostic biomarker. Combined with inflammatory markers, it improves non-invasive screening efficacy for MAFLD/fibrosis. This study pioneers incorporating muscle metabolism into MAFLD diagnosis, with potential for primary care translation. Dynamic PMI monitoring may assess \"muscle-liver axis\" targeted therapies.</p>","PeriodicalId":11116,"journal":{"name":"Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy","volume":"18 ","pages":"3527-3538"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12452978/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2147/DMSO.S521829","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Investigating psoas muscle index (PMI) as a potential biomarker for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and hepatic fibrosis through a case-control study.
Methods: This case-control study enrolled 80 MAFLD patients and 80 healthy controls from our hospital (2023-2024). Abdominal CT-derived PMI, inflammatory markers, and FIB-4 scores were assessed. ROC and logistic regression analyses evaluated PMI's diagnostic potential for MAFLD and associated fibrosis.
Results: A total of 160 patients met the inclusion criteria. Compared with the non-MAFLD group, the PMI and systemic inflammatory indicators in the MAFLD group were higher. In MAFLD patients, PMI was significantly correlated with systemic inflammation indicators, including the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (P<0.001, P=0.038, and P<0.001, respectively). ROC curve analysis showed that the areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of PMI and other systemic inflammatory indicators (PLR, NLR, LMR, SII) for diagnosing MAFLD were 0.615, 0.526, 0.956, 0.803, and 0.674, respectively. The AUC of PMI combined with LMR, NLR, and LMR plus NLR for diagnosing MAFLD were 0.547, 0.585, and 0.572, respectively. FIB-4 was linearly correlated with PMI and systemic inflammatory indicators (PLR, NLR, SII) (r=-0.208, P=0.008; r=-0.211, P=0.007; r=0.327, P<0.001; r=0.164, P=0.039). The combination of PMI and systemic inflammatory indicators (PLR, NLR, SII) demonstrated a good diagnostic ability for liver fibrosis in MAFLD (AUC=0.602, P=0.003).
Conclusion: PMI significantly correlates with systemic inflammation and hepatic fibrosis in MAFLD patients, serving as a diagnostic biomarker. Combined with inflammatory markers, it improves non-invasive screening efficacy for MAFLD/fibrosis. This study pioneers incorporating muscle metabolism into MAFLD diagnosis, with potential for primary care translation. Dynamic PMI monitoring may assess "muscle-liver axis" targeted therapies.
期刊介绍:
An international, peer-reviewed, open access, online journal. The journal is committed to the rapid publication of the latest laboratory and clinical findings in the fields of diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity research. Original research, review, case reports, hypothesis formation, expert opinion and commentaries are all considered for publication.