Background and Aims: Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), a crucial modulator of the redox system, plays a crucial role in modulating lipid/glucose metabolism. Hence, this study aimed to explore whether circulating TXNIP is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods: We enrolled 110 new patients with T2DM. In this study, we determined hepatic fat fraction (HFF), which represents a hepatic fat level, by Dixon magnetic resonance imaging. TXNIP and the other biochemical profiles of the patients were measured using fasting plasma.
Results: Among the 110 patients with T2DM, 41 were classified as without fatty liver, whereas 34 and 35 were with mild and moderate-to-severe fatty liver, respectively. The patients with diabetes and advanced fatty liver had significantly higher TXNIP levels (P < 0.001) than other patients. The prevalence of severe NAFLD showed an increasing trend with the increase in TXNIP quartiles (for all trends, P < 0.05). HFF showed a positive correlation with TXNIP (r = 0.516, P < 0.001). Even main risk factors were adjusted, TXNIP level was associated with NAFLD as analyzed by logistic regression.
Conclusion: TXNIP level remarkably increases among diabetics, which shows its positive relationship with the severity of NAFLD. TXNIP is a promising NAFLD biomarker that offers an efficient way to evaluate and monitor fatty liver progression among patients with T2DM.
Keywords: thioredoxin-interacting protein, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus