Published online Mar 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i12.3614
Peer-review started: October 21, 2014
First decision: October 29, 2014
Revised: November 25, 2014
Accepted: January 8, 2015
Article in press: January 8, 2015
Published online: March 28, 2015
Processing time: 160 Days and 14.3 Hours
AIM: To investigate the relationship between cholecystectomy and fatty liver disease (FLD) in a Chinese population.
METHODS: A total of 32428 subjects who had voluntarily undergone annual health checkups in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2011 to May 2013 were included in this study. Basic data collection, physical examination, laboratory examination, and abdominal ultrasound examination were performed.
RESULTS: Subjects undergoing cholecystectomy were associated with greater age, female sex, higher body mass index, and higher levels of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. However, no significant differences were found in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, albumin, and serum uric acid. The overall prevalence of FLD diagnosed by ultrasonography was high at 38.4%. The prevalence of FLD was significantly higher for subjects who had undergone cholecystectomy (46.9%) than those who had not undergone cholecystectomy (38.1%; χ2 test, P < 0.001). Cholecystectomy was positively associated with FLD (OR = 1.433, 95%CI: 1.259-1.631). However, after adjusting for possible factors associated with FLD, multivariate regression analysis showed that the association between cholecystectomy and FLD was not statistically significant (OR = 1.096; 95%CI: 0.939-1.279).
CONCLUSION: According to our study results, cholecystectomy may not be a significant risk factor for FLD.
Core tip: The prevalence of fatty liver disease (FLD) without cholecystectomy was 38.1%, and was up to 46.9% with cholecystectomy, showing an increase in the prevalence of FLD after cholecystectomy. However, no significant association was found between cholecystectomy and FLD after adjusting for multiple related factors. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the correlation between cholecystectomy and FLD in a large Chinese population.