Role of triglyceride as a predictor in autoimmune hepatitis with cirrhosis

Abstract

Abstract BackgroundMetabolism-related indicators have been suggested as possible prognostic indicators of liver disease in recent relevant studies, but their value in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) cirrhosis is unclear. This study evaluated the role of lipid levels on the prognosis of AIH-related cirrhosis.MethodsWe retrospectively included 345 patients with AIH initially diagnosed in Beijing Ditan Hospital from 2010-2019, and finally screened 196 patients who met the criteria. We used logistic regression to screen factors associated with cirrhosis. Kaplan-Meier (KM) curves were used to analyze the effect of different triglycerides (TG) levels on survival in cirrhosis patients. Restricted cubic spline fitted Cox regression model was used to analyze the non-linear relationship between serum TG and patients' prognosis.ResultsPatients with AIH cirrhosis have lower TG levels compared to those without cirrhosis. And lower serum TG levels correlated with the severity of cirrhosis. Survival analysis showed that TG affected overall survival in AIH patients, with lower 5-year survival (Log-rank P < 0.05) in patients in TG ≤ 0.95 group (HR=3.79, 95% CI: 1.528-9.423). In addition, lower TG levels had a higher risk of death in patients with cirrhosis in AIH. In the interval of 0.5-0.8 mmol/L, the effect of TG on patient mortality showed a positive correlation. However, the risk of death was minimized when TG=0.8 mmol/L, and the effect of TG on patients plateaued when TG>0.8 mmol/L.ConclusionSerum TG levels can influence the onset and progression of AIH cirrhosis and may be used as a new indicator of prognosis in patients with AIH-related cirrhosis.