Research Article Details

Article ID: A19051
PMID: 26800495
Source: J Diabetes
Title: Age at menarche is associated with the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease later in life.
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&#8201;years had higher prevalence of overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD compared with women with age at menarche 15-18 or >18&#8201;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 &#8201;<&#160;0.001; multivariate-adjusted Ptrend &#8201;<&#160;0.001; multivariate + current BMI-adjusted Ptrend &#8201;=&#8201;0.03; multivariate + HOMA-IR-adjusted Ptrend &#8201;=&#8201;0.06). CONCLUSION: Age at menarche is associated with the prevalence of NAFLD later in life, independent of BMI and insulin resistance.
DOI: 10.1111/1753-0407.12379