| Objective To investigate the expression of long non-coding NTF3-5 (Lnc-NTF3-5) in the serum of patients with non-alco. holic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to analyze its relationship with insulin resistance.Methods Totally 115 patients, who came toCaidian District People's Hospital of Wuhan and were diagnosed with NAFLD during December 2019 to December 2020, were includ.ed as the NAFLD group. According to the severity of the disease, they were grouped into severe group (n=33), moderate group (n=40), and mild group (n=42). Meanwhile, 55 healthy people were chosen as the control group. The general data were collected and the twogroups were detected to collect the levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glutamyltransfer.ase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), fasting insulin (FINS), and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), respectively. The homeostasis modelinsulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) and pancreatic β cell function index (HOMA-β) were calculated according to FINS and FPG. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR method was performed to measure the expression level of Lnc-NTF3-5 in serum, and Pearson method was performed to analyze the correlation between the expression level of Lnc-NTF3-5 and the above-mentioned liver function indexes and glycolipid metabolism indexes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of se.rum Lnc-NTF3-5 and HOMA-IR for the occurrence of NAFLD.Results The serum levels of Lnc-NTF3-5 (1.59 ± 0.37 vs. 1.01 ± 0.23) and HOMA-IR (2.67 ± 0.87 vs. 1.36 ± 0.48) in NAFLD group were higher than those in the healthy control group, and the levels of Lnc-NTF3-5 (2.02 ± 0.43 vs. 1.53 ± 0.37 vs. 1.32 ± 0.31) and HOMA-IR (3.75 ± 1.23 vs. 2.49 ± 0.81 vs. 1.98 ± 0.64) in NAFLD groups gradually increased with the severity of the disease with statistical significance (F=67.41, 66.02, P<0.05). The levels of TG [(3.23± 1.02) mmol/L vs. (1.13±0.31) mmol/L], TC [(5.15±0.88) mmol/L vs. (3.82±1.02) mmol/L], LDL-C [(3.28±0.63) mmol/L vs. (2.65±0.31) mmol/L], ALT [(55.33±18.34) U/L vs. (24.62±7.95) U/L], GGT [(33.21±10.62) U/L vs. (26.94±8.32) U/L], AST [(34.86±11.56) U/L vs. (22.32±4.26) U/L], FPG [(5.63±1.02) mmol/L vs. (4.99±0.88) mmol/L], FINS [(12.50±6.59) mU/L vs. (8.61±1.84) mU/L], and HOMA-β (4.92±0.80 vs. 4.61±0.67) in the NAFLD group were drastically higher than those in the control group, while the level of HDL-C [(1.03± 0.45) mmol/L vs.(1.32±0.32) mmol/L] in the NAFLD group was lower than that in the control group; the differences were statistically sig. nificant (t=2.49-14.92, P<0.05). Serum Lnc-NTF3-5 and HOMA-IR were inversely correlated with HDL-C(r=.0.54, P<0.05) (r=.0.61, P<0.05), but directly correlated with TG, TC, LDL-C, ALT, GGT, AST, FPG, FINS and HOMA-β(r=0.23, 0.22, 0.23, 0.21, 0.53, 0.19, 0.54, 0.55, 0.52, P<0.05) (r=0.45, 0.32, 0.27, 0.23, 0.52, 0.30, 0.52, 0.56, 0.53, P<0.05). The expression level of Lnc-NTF3-5 in serum of NAFLD patients was directly correlated with HOMA-IR (r=0.37, P<0.001). ROC results showed that the areas under the curve (AUC) predicted by Lnc-NTF3-5 and HOMA-IR for NAFLD patients were [0.85, 95% CI: (0.79, 0.90)] and [0.83, 95% CI: (0.76, 0.88)],respectively. The sensitivities were 72.17% and 61.74%, and the specificities were 89.09% and 98.18%. The AUC of the combinationof the two for NAFLD patients was [0.88, 95% CI: (0.82, 0.93)], the sensitivity 76.52%, and the specificity 96.36%.Conclusion The expression level of Lnc-NTF3-5 in the serum of NAFLD patients is directly correlated with HOMA-IR, and both are correlated with the liver function and glycolipid metabolism of the patients, which has important clinical significance. |
