Ratio of muscle mass to fat mass assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis is significantly correlated with liver fat accumulation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract Aims Obesity and ectopic fat accumulation are important conditions of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Our aim was to determine whether bioelectrical impedance body composition analysis combined with blood test results could estimate liver ectopic fat accumulation in patients with treatment-naive T2DM. Methods Subjects were 119 untreated T2DM patients. Computed tomography scans were performed to calculate the liver to spleen attenuation ratio (L/S ratio) as a measure of liver fat accumulation, with excess liver fat accumulation defined as an L/S ratio Results The Nagelkerke R 2 test showed that the muscle mass/fat mass ratio (muscle/fat ratio) was the most suitable variable among anthropometric factors and body component indexes for estimating liver fat accumulation. The muscle/fat ratio was significantly correlated with the L/S ratio (ρ = 0.4386, P P P Conclusion In patients with treatment-naive T2DM, the muscle/fat ratio and ALT are useful for estimating the presence of excess liver fat accumulation in daily clinical practice.