A correlative study of liver fat content and bone mineral density in middle-aged and elderly people

Objective To investigate the quantitative relationship between liver fat content and bone mineral density (BMD) in middle-aged and elderly people. Methods Totally 184 middle-aged and elderly community residents were recruited from March to June 2016, including 68 males and 116 females. MRI mDIXON-Quant and quantitative CT (QCT) examinations were performed to determine the content of liver fat and L1-L3 vertebral BMD. The subjects were divided into four groups according to the quartiles of liver fat content, and the baseline characteristics and other variables of different groups were were identified by using one-way analysis of Variance. The relationship between liver fat content and lumbar vertebral BMD was assessed with Spearman correlation and partial correlation analysis. Result Subjects with higher hepatic fat content had lower spine BMD and higher body mass index (BMI), waist circumference. Liver fat content was negatively correlated with BMD (r=-0.203, P=0.003). After age and body weight were controlled, the negative correlation between liver fat content and BMD was still significant (r=-0.291, P<0.001), in males (r=-0.283, P=0.021) and in females (r=-0.210, P=0.025). Conclusion Liver fat content is negatively correlated with lumbar vertebral BMD in middle-aged and elderly people. Key words: Fatty liver; Bone density; Tomography, X-ray computed; mDIXON-Quant technique