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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.

Sec. Clinical Diabetes

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1556169

This article is part of the Research TopicWorld Diabetes Day 2024: Exploring Mechanisms, Innovations, and Holistic Approaches in Diabetes CareView all 10 articles

Association between Hepatic Steatosis Index and Impaired Fasting Glucose: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study in China

Provisionally accepted
Yimei  ChenYimei Chen1Jieying  HanJieying Han1Siwen  ZhaoSiwen Zhao1Yongjie  ShiYongjie Shi1Hongyun  JiaHongyun Jia1Songyao  LuSongyao Lu2Juan  WuJuan Wu2*Sicong  HuangSicong Huang1*
  • 1The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
  • 2Jieyang People's Hospital, Jieyang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The Hepatic Steatosis Index (HSI) is a simple screening tool for adults with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). While lipid and glucose metabolism are closely interrelated, few studies have examined the association between HSI and impaired fasting glucose (IFG). This study aims to investigate the relationship between HSI and IFG risk in a large Chinese cohort.This retrospective cohort study analyzed health examination data collected from 2010 to 2016 across 11 cities in China by the Rich Healthcare Group. Multivariable Cox regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) analyses were used to evaluate the association between baseline HSI and IFG. Subgroup analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the findings.A total of 75,911 participants with a mean age of 40.9±12.1 years were included, among whom 9,908 (13.1%) developed IFG. After adjusting for potential confounders, each one-unit increase in baseline HSI was associated with a 5% higher risk of IFG (HR=1.05, 95%CI). RCS analysis revealed that the increase of risk plateaued when HSI exceeded 35.31. Subgroup analyses demonstrated the stability of these findings.Elevated baseline HSI is a significant risk factor for IFG in Chinese adults. These findings highlight the potential utility of HSI in identifying individuals at risk of glucose dysregulation.

Keywords: Impaired fasting glucose, Hepatic Steatosis Index, Retrospective cohort study, Risk factors, Chinese adults

Received: 06 Jan 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Han, Zhao, Shi, Jia, Lu, Wu and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Juan Wu, Jieyang People's Hospital, Jieyang, China
Sicong Huang, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China

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