Abstract: Objective  To explore the correlation between fatty liver index(FLI) and insulin resistance(IR) in middle aged and elderly population in China.Methods  A total of 3 592 community population aged over 45 years in Gulou district,Nanjing city were enrolled.The subjects were divided into IR group(1 938 cases) and non-IR group(1 654 cases) according to Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index(HOMA-IR) and divided into FLI＜30 group(2 221 cases),30≤FLI＜60 group(911 cases) and FLI≥60 group(460 cases) based on FLI.General data,biochemical indexes,blood glucose and insulin related indexes of different subgroups were compared.Spearman nonparametric correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between FLI and HOMA-IR,related indicators of islet β cell function.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve was used to analyze the predictive value of FLI for IR.Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between FLI and IR.Results  The rate of male population,age,blood pressure,blood fat,liver function,plasma glucose and insulin at each time point of OGTT,FLI,homeostatic model assessment of islet β cell function(HOMA-β),ΔI0-30/ΔG0-30 and HOMA-IR of IR group were higher than those of non-IR group,while serum creatinine and Matsuda ISI were lower than those of non-IR group(P＜0.001).The differences of blood pressure,biochemical indexes,plasma glucose and insulin related indexes among different FLI subgroups were statistically significant(P＜0.001).Spearman nonparametric correlation analysis results showed that FLI was positively correlated with HOMA-IR(P＜0.001) and negatively correlated with Matsuda ISI(P<0.001).ROC curve analysis results showed that AUC of IR based on FLI was 0.670(95% CI 0.653-0.688).Multivariate logistic regression analysis results showed that FLI was one of the risk factors for IR and could increase the risk of IR by 1.021 times(P<0.001).Conclusion  FLI is correlated with IR and can be a simple and practical index for evaluating IR in middle-aged and elderly population in China．

Key words: Fatty liver index, Non aAlcoholic fatty liver disease, Insulin resistance