Dose-response association of serum alanine aminotransferase levels with multimorbidity

Multimorbidity has posed a major challenge to health care systems worldwide, but little is known about its association with biological factors. This study represents the first one to examine the association of serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) with multimorbidity. The baseline category logistic regression model was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) between ALT and multimorbidity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the classification utility of ALT. Serum ALT levels were associated, in a dose-response manner, with multimorbidity. Compared with the first quartile, the adjusted OR (95% confidence interval) of the fourth quartile for multimorbidity was 4.71 (3.56–6.23). In addition, the AUC value for distinguishing the multimorbidity group from the control group reached 0.7185. In conclusion, high levels of ALT were significantly correlated with multimorbidity and this association was independent of other potential risk factors. Serum ALT might be a useful marker for identifying individuals with multimorbidity.