Background:The association of serum retinol-binding protein (RBP) levels with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains controversial. Furthermore, few studies have investigated their relationship in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the association between serum RBP levels and NAFLD in Chinese inpatients with T2DM. Methods: This cross-sectional, real-world study included 2,263 Chinese T2DM inpatients. NAFLD was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography. The subjects were divided into four groups based on RBP quartiles, and clinical characteristics were compared among the four groups. The associations of both RBP levels and quartiles with the presence of NAFLD were also analyzed. Results: After adjustment for sex, age, and diabetes duration, there was a significant increase in the prevalence of NAFLD from the lowest to the highest RBP quartiles (30.4%, 40.0%, 42.4%, and 44.7% for the first, second, third, and fourth quartiles, respectively, P<0.001 for trend). Fully adjusted multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that both increased RBP levels (odds ratio, 1.155; 95% confidence interval, 1.012 to 1.318; P=0.033) and quartiles (P=0.014 for trend) were independently associated with the presence of NAFLD in T2DM patients. Conclusion: Increased serum RBP levels were independently associated with the presence of NAFLD in Chinese T2DM inpatients. Serum RBP levels may be used as one of the indicators to assess the risk of NAFLD in T2DM patients.

Purpose:We aimed to investigate whether urine uric acid excretion (UUAE) levels are associated with obesity and abdominal obesity in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: There were 2785 type 2 diabetic patients in this cross-sectional study. Obesity was defined as BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2 , and abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference (WC) ≥90 cm for men and WC ≥ 80 cm for women based on World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for Asians. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) was defined as the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73m 2 and/or urinary albumin excretion (UAE) ≥300 mg/24h. 24-h UUAE was determined enzymatically using a single 24hour urine collection. All the subjects were stratified into quartiles based on UUAE levels. Both obesity and abdominal obesity were compared among the UUAE quartile groups, respectively. Furthermore, the associations of UUAE with obesity and abdominal obesity were analyzed in both CKD and non-CKD patients, respectively. Results: There was an obvious increased trend in both obesity prevalence (36.2%, 41.5%, 46.3%, and 63.4%, respectively, p < 0.001 for trend) and abdominal obesity prevalence (58.1%, 61.2%, 64.7%, and 75.8%, respectively, p < 0.001 for trend) in patients with T2D across the UUAE quartiles after controlling for age, sex and diabetes duration. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed independent associations between UUAE quartiles and obesity (p < 0.001) and abdominal obesity (p < 0.001) in all patients. However, UUAE was significantly associated with obesity and abdominal obesity only in the T2D patients without CKD (p < 0.001 in model 1, model 2, model 3 and model 4, respectively). Conclusion: Increased UUAE levels were significantly associated with the presence of obesity, especially abdominal obesity in T2D patients without CKD.