Abstract: Objective To explore the association of serum Chemerin levels and carotid intima-media thickness in patients with Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Methods A total of 96 patients with NAFLD, 35 healthy individuals (control group) were enrolled in our hospital between January 1st 2019 and May 1st 2020. When CIMT≥1.0mm were defined as ACIMT group and others were defined as NCIMT group according to the carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) of 96 patients with NAFLD. The differences of sex, age, BMI, smoking history, history of diabetes mellitus, history of hypertension, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, FBG, TC, TG, HDL-c, LDL-c, HbA1c, FPG, Fins, HOMA-IR, ALT, AST, UA, Chemerin and CMIT were detected and compared among the three groups. Pearson analysis was used for correlation analysis. The risk factors of CIMT in patients with NAFLD were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. The clinical efficacy of serum Chemerin levels in the evaluating the CIMT≥1.0 mm, patients with NAFLD was analyzed by ROC curve. Results Serum levels of TG, LDL-c, FINS, ALT, AST, Chemerin and HOMA-IR in the control group, NCIMT group and ACIMT group increased gradually and there was significant difference between each group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in serum FPG, UA levels and CIMT between the control group and NCIMT group (P>0.05). When compared with the control group and NCIMT group, serum FPG, UA levels and CIMT were significantly higher in ACIMT group (P<0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between CIMT levels and TG, LDL-C, HOMA-IR, UA and Chemerin in NAFLD patients. The correlation coefficients were 0.322, 0.474, 0.354, 0.365 and 0.489, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that TG (OR=4.221), HOMA-IR (OR=1.353), LDL-c (OR=5.548) and Chemerin (OR=8.015) were risk factors of CIMT in patients with NAFLD. The AUC of Chemerin in the diagnosis of CIMT≥1.0 mm in patients with NAFLD was 0.885 (95%CI: 0.813~0.942, P<0.000). When the cut-off value was 265.29 ng/mL, the sensitivity and specificity was 93.24% and 95.25%, respectively.Conclusion Chemerin is a risk factor of CIMT thickening and it can be used as a biomarker to detect carotid atherosclerosis in patients with NAFLD.

Key words: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, Carotid intima-media thickness, Chemerin;Biomarker