Serum syndecan‐4 is associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

• Published in: Journal of digestive diseases Vol. 22; no. 9; pp. 536 - 544
• Main Authors: Xia, Shu Jing, Tang, Li Zhong, Li, Wen Hua, Xu, Zhao Shan, Zhang, Li Li, Cheng, Feng Gan, Chen, Hong Xia, Wang, Zi Hua, Luo, Yu Cheng, Dai, An Na, Fan, Jian Gao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd 01.09.2021; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Blood glucose; Cholesterol; diagnosis; Fatty liver; Homeostasis; Humans; Insulin; Insulin Resistance; Liver diseases; Metabolic disorders; metabolic risk factors; Metabolism; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Regression analysis; Risk Factors; Syndecan; Syndecan-4 - blood; syndecan‐4; Waist Circumference; diagnosis; metabolic risk factors; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; syndecan-4
• ISSN: 1751-2972; 1751-2980
• DOI: 10.1111/1751-2980.13037

Objectives The accelerated shedding of extracellular domains of syndecan‐4 (SDC4) is associated with central obesity and insulin resistance, while the association between serum SDC4 and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is unknown. We aimed to examine the association between SDC4 and NAFLD. Methods Adults undergoing a health examination from 1 June 2019 to 31 December 2019 were enrolled. A diagnosis of NAFLD was made with an abdominal ultrasound. Logistic regression models and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the role of SDC4 in predicting NAFLD. Results In total, 533 eligible participants were finally enrolled, among them 157 (29.46%) had NAFLD. The proportion of patients with NAFLD increased with the increasing quartiles of serum SDC4. With the increase of serum SDC4 levels, metabolic features including waist circumference, serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance were significantly increased. SDC4 was an independent factor for NAFLD (odds ratio 1.963, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.628‐2.367, P < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve of SDC4 for predicting NAFLD was 0.934 (95% CI 0.910‐0.959). The optimal cut‐off value was 6.575 ng/mL at Youden's index of 0.767. SDC4 had the highest diagnostic sensitivity (84.1%), positive predictive value (82.5%), negative predictive value (93.3%) and positive likelihood ratio (11.356) among all the variables. Conclusions Elevated serum SDC4 level is associated with metabolic disorders and the prevalence of NAFLD among general population. Serum SDC4 may serve as a biomarker of NAFLD. This study evaluated the performance of serum syndecan‐4 (SDC4) as a biomarker to identify nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in healthy adults. Logistic regression models and the receiver operating characteristic curve were used to evaluate the role of SDC4 in predicting NAFLD. An elevated baseline serum SDC4 level was associated with obesity, metabolic disorders and NAFLD and might serve as a biomarker to identify NAFLD in healthy adults.