Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and microvascular complications in type 2 diabetes

Figure 1 Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients according to different age ranges and durations of diabetes. A: Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in patients aged < 50, 50-60, and > 60 years was 73.4%, 61.6%, and 57.8%, respectively, indicating that the prevalence of NAFLD decreased significantly with increasing age (^bP < 0.01 vs group below 50 years). In men (74.5%, 57.5%, and 54.2%, respectively, ^bP < 0.01 vs group below 50 years) and women (72.3%, 65.1%, and 59.6%, respectively, ^aP < 0.05 vs group below 50 years), the prevalence of NAFLD decreased significantly with increasing age. The prevalence of NAFLD in men was higher than in women (74.5% and 72.3%, respectively, P > 0.05) in the < 50 years age group; however, the reverse was evident in the > 50 years age group (57.5% and 65.1%, respectively, in the 50-60 years age group, and 54.2% and 59.6%, in the > 60 years age group, both P > 0.05); B: Prevalence of NAFLD, according to duration of diabetes, was 74.9%, 65.5%, and 50.7% for < 5, 5-10, and > 10 years, respectively. Prevalence of NAFLD decreased significantly with prolonged course of diabetes (^bP < 0.01 vs group less than 5 years). This trend persisted even when patients were stratified by sex (72.3%, 65.6%, and 47.1%, respectively, in men, and 76.5%, 65.4%, and 52.6% in women, ^bP < 0.01 vs group less than 5 years). There were no significant differences in the prevalence of NAFLD between men and women with different durations of diabetes (P > 0.05). T2DM: Type 2 diabetes mellitus.