The relationship between serum uric acid levels and liver stiffness in patients with type II diabetes mellitus and fatty liver disease

OBJECTIVE: High serum uric acid levels are associated with metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus. Several observational studies have shown the association between metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease and high serum uric acid. However, this association is controversial due to reverse causality. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the serum uric acid level and "aspartate aminotransferase-platelet ratio index score," which noninvasively shows the possible changes of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease in the liver in patients diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted with a total of 94 patients, 36 females and 58 males, who were hospitalized in the gastroenterohepatology outpatient clinic and diagnosed with hepatosteatosis and type II diabetes mellitus between January 2023 and January 2024. Laboratory tests, height, weight, body mass index, presence of fatty liver disease on ultrasound, and aspartate aminotransferase-platelet ratio index scores of the patients were examined. RESULTS: The mean serum uric acid level of the patients was 5.26 +/- 1.52 mg/dL, and the mean aspartate aminotransferase-platelet ratio index score was 0.26 +/- 0.13. The serum uric acid level was found to be associated with the hemoglobin A1c value (p=0.001; p<0.01). However, the aspartate aminotransferase-platelet ratio index scores of the patients did not show a statistically significant difference according to serum uric acid levels (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: No significant association was observed between serum uric acid and the noninvasive liver test aspartate aminotransferaseplatelet ratio index score. Although a causal relationship between metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease and serum uric acid has been demonstrated in several studies, further research is needed to evaluate possible mechanisms in the liver.