Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) prevalence and its metabolic associations in patients with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes

We investigated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) prevalence and its metabolic associations in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), and in insulin-naive and insulin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Baseline data from patients who had liver fat content (LFC) evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging in four phase 3 studies of basal insulin peglispro (BIL) were analysed. Associations of NAFLD with clinical characteristics, glycaemic control and diabetes therapy were evaluated. The prevalence of NAFLD (defined as LFC ≥ 6%) was low in T1D (8.8%) but high in T2D, with greater prevalence in insulin-naive (75.6%) vs insulin-treated (61.7%) T2D patients. LFC (mean ± SD) was higher in T2D patients (insulin-naive, 13.0% ± 8.4%; insulin-treated, 10.2% ± 7.8%) than in T1D patients (3.2% ± 3.2%). In T2D, NAFLD was associated with several markers of insulin resistance. In all three populations, there was an absence of association of HbA1c with LFC, but insulin doses were higher in patients with NAFLD.