Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) biomarkers and progression of lower limb arterial calcification in patients with type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study

Denimal, Damien; Ponnaiah, Maharajah; Phan, Franck; Jeannin, Anne-Caroline; Redheuil, Alban; Salem, Joe-Elie; Boussouar, Samia; Paulstephenraj, Pauline; Laroche, Suzanne; Amouyal, Chloé; Hartemann, Agnès; Foufelle, Fabienne; Bourron, Olivier

doi:10.1186/s12933-025-02705-9

Cardiovascular Diabetology

Table 2 Univariate correlations between LLACS and patient characteristics at baseline

From: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) biomarkers and progression of lower limb arterial calcification in patients with type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study

Variables	LLACS at baseline		LLACS at the end of follow-up		Annualized change in LLACS
Variables	rho/r_pbi	p value	rho/r_pbi	p value	rho/r_pbi	p value
LLACS at baseline	N.A	N.A	0.968	< 0.0001	0.860	< 0.0001
Age	0.285	0.0004	0.273	0.0007	0.275	0.0006
Gender (male)	0.344	< 0.0001	0.164	0.05	0.084	0.31
Diabetes duration	0.049	0.55	0.076	0.38	0.094	0.25
Smoking (active or past)	0.126	0.12	− 0.077	0.35	− 0.092	0.26
Hypertension	0.166	0.04	− 0.004	0.97	0.007	0.92
Dyslipidemia	− 0.061	0.46	− 0.007	0.94	− 0.065	0.43
Retinopathy	0.197	0.02	0.163	0.05	0.006	0.94
Neuropathy	0.101	0.18	0.024	0.77	− 0.002	0.99
BMI	− 0.021	0.80	− 0.011	0.89	− 0.011	0.90
SBP	0.140	0.09	0.156	0.06	0.155	0.06
DBP	− 0.077	0.35	− 0.091	0.27	− 0.116	0.16
Insulin use	0.013	0.88	0.11	0.17	− 0.084	0.31
Metformin use	0.017	0.84	− 0.147	0.07	− 0.028	0.73
Sulfonylurea use	− 0.011	0.90	− 0.074	0.37	− 0.090	0.27
GLP-1 receptor agonist	− 0.121	0.14	− 0.033	0.69	− 0.004	0.97
Statin use	0.028	0.73	0.002	0.98	0.083	0.31
Ezetimibe use	0.144	0.08	0.029	0.73	0.004	0.96
Antiplatelet use	0.167	0.04	0.151	0.07	0.128	0.12
ARB or ACEi use	− 0.024	0.77	0.105	0.20	0.087	0.29
Beta-blocker use	0.282	0.0005	0.138	0.09	0.222	0.006
Fasting glycemia	− 0.032	0.70	− 0.014	0.87	0.001	0.99
HbA1c	− 0.118	0.15	− 0.127	0.12	− 0.151	0.07
eGFR	− 0.241	0.003	− 0.249	0.002	− 0.242	0.003
Albuminuria	0.127	0.12	0.191	0.02	0.226	0.006
Triglyceridemia	− 0.118	0.15	− 0.086	0.29	− 0.027	0.74
Total cholesterolemia	− 0.191	0.02	− 0.176	0.03	− 0.175	0.03
LDL-cholesterolemia	− 0.119	0.15	− 0.121	0.14	− 0.151	0.07
HDL-cholesterolemia	− 0.000	0.99	0.010	0.91	− 0.006	0.95
AST	− 0.014	0.87	0.110	0.18	0.109	0.18
ALT	− 0.073	0.37	− 0.075	0.36	− 0.119	0.15
AST-to-ALT ratio	0.183	0.025	0.209	0.010	0.260	0.001
GGT	− 0.008	0.92	0.043	0.60	0.054	0.51
FibroTest® score	0.271	0.0008	0.309	0.0001	0.304	0.0002
SteatoTest® score	− 0.124	0.13	− 0.098	0.24	− 0.068	0.41
NashTest® score	− 0.070	0.39	− 0.052	0.53	− 0.042	0.61
ActiTest® score	0.034	0.68	0.046	0.57	0.009	0.92
hsCRP, mg/L	0.069	0.40	− 0.044	0.60	− 0.050	0.55
IL-6, pg/mL	0.045	0.58	0.019	0.82	0.008	0.91

Rho and r_pbi represent the Spearman and point-biserial correlation coefficients, respectively. LLACS was log-transformed for point-biserial analysis. The correlations remaining significant after Benjamini–Hochberg correction to control the false discovery rate are reported in bold
ACEi, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ARB, angiotensin receptor blockers; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; BMI, body mass index; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; GGT, gamma glutamyltransferase; GLP, glucagon-like peptide; LLACS, lower limb arterial calcification score; N.A., not applicable; SBP, systolic blood pressure

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