Relationship Between Serum Uric Acid Levels and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in the Non-Obese Chinese Population: A Secondary Analysis Based on A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is linked to some metabolic disorders. Herein, we explored the relationship of levels of serum uric acid （SUA）with NAFLD in a population of non-obese Chinese. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that involved 183,903 Chinese men and women with an average age of 40.98 years who underwent physical examinations at a health screening center at Wenzhou People’s Hospital. We defined NAFLD by ultrasound detection of steatosis. We employed univariate analysis along with multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses to investigate the relationship of SUA level with NAFLD. Moreover, we employed the receiver operating characteristic curve to establish the SUA cutoffs of estimating NAFLD. Results: Overall, 25,501 participants (13.9%) had NAFLD. The NAFLD ORs were 1.47 (95% CI 1.35 to 1.59), 2.01 (95% CI 1.85 to 2.18) and 2.77 (95% CI 2.55 to 3.02) compared with Q1.AUC values for SUA ratios was 0.728. The optimal SUA level cut-off value for identification of NAFLD was 287.5, with a specificity and a sensitivity of 60.7% and 73.9%, respectively.Conclusion: High Serum uric acid levels shows positive correlation with NAFLD. SUA constitutes a cheap, simple, non-invasive, as well as a beneficial biomarker that could be utilized to forecast NAFLD in the non-obese Chinese population.