Use of Metabolic Scores and Lipid Ratios to Predict Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Onset in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

Background/

Objectives

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is increasingly recognized in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients due to chronic inflammation and metabolic disturbances. However, reliable non-invasive biomarkers for MASLD prediction in this population are lacking. This study evaluated the predictive value of metabolic scores and lipid ratios for MASLD onset in IBD patients.

Methods

An observational retrospective study was conducted on 358 IBD patients at the "Renato Dulbecco" Teaching Hospital in Catanzaro, Italy, in a period between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2024. Clinical and laboratory data, including metabolic scores and lipid ratios, were analyzed using the chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests as appropriate. Post hoc comparisons were conducted using Dunn's test. Receiver operating characteristic analysis assessed their predictive accuracy for MASLD. p < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results

IBD-MASLD patients had a significantly higher body mass index (BMI, 27 ± 4 vs. 22 ± 2 kg/m2; p < 0.001), waist circumference (100 ± 11 vs. 85 ± 4 cm; p < 0.001), other anthropometric parameters, metabolic scores, and lipid ratios than IBD-only patients. The metabolic score for insulin resistance [METS-IR, area under curve (AUC = 0.754)] and waist circumference (AUC = 0.754) exhibited the highest predictive accuracy, followed by the lipid accumulation product (LAP, AUC = 0.737), BMI (AUC = 0.709), and triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein (TG/HDL, AUC = 0.701). Insulin resistance scores, including the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (AUC = 0.680) and triglyceride-glucose index (AUC = 0.674), were of moderate predictive use. The visceral adiposity index (AUC = 0.664) and low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein (AUC = 0.656) showed lower discriminative ability, while the fibrosis-4 index (AUC = 0.562) had the weakest diagnostic performance.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that MASLD in IBD is primarily driven by cardiometabolic dysfunction. The introduction of the METS-IR, LAP, and TG/HDL into clinical assessments of IBD patients could prove useful in preventing liver and cardiovascular complications in this setting.