Abstract
Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether age at menarche is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) later in life. Methods: The association between age at menarche and obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD after menopause was investigated in a cross-sectional study of 4128 postmenopausal Chinese women; NAFLD was diagnosed by hepatic ultrasound and information regarding age at menarche was collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Results: Women with age at menarche <15 years had higher prevalence of overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD compared with women with age at menarche 15–18 or >18 years. Logistic regression revealed that women with earlier menarche had a higher risk for the age-adjusted prevalence of overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD, whereas later menarche showed a weaker, but still significant, association with a lower prevalence of NAFLD. However, further adjustment for some variables and current body mass index (BMI) or homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) attenuated the association between later menarche and a lower prevalence of NAFLD. A decreasing trend in the risk of NAFLD was seen across increasing levels of age at menarche (age-adjusted Ptrend < 0.001; multivariate-adjusted Ptrend < 0.001; multivariate + current BMI-adjusted Ptrend = 0.03; multivariate + HOMA-IR-adjusted Ptrend = 0.06). Conclusion: Age at menarche is associated with the prevalence of NAFLD later in life, independent of BMI and insulin resistance.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 53-60 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Diabetes |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2017 |
Keywords
- age at menarche
- insulin resistance
- non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- obesity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism