Metabolic syndrome is a risk factor for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: evidence from a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

OBJECTIVE: It has been demonstrated that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with metabolic syndrome (MS). This study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to characterize the relationship between MS and NAFLD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed on 3440 NAFLD patients. Of the 3440 subjects, 1160 were diagnosed with MS. BMI, SBP, DBP, UN, Scr, UA, FPG, Fructosamine, TC, TG, lipoprotein alpha, HDL-C, LDL-C, ALT, AST, TP, albumin, globulins, TB, DB, ALP and GGT were measured. CFA was used to identify a latent structure of NAFLD and MS, respectively. SEM approach was used to analyze the latent relationship between MS and NAFLD. RESULTS: Second-order CFA revealed that the observed variables for NAFLD could be loaded onto seven latent factors, which were further loaded together onto an unobserved NAFLD factor. CFA of MS showed that overweight, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and hypertension clustered together under a single latent factor of MS. In both MS and NAFLD models, hypertension showed higher factor loading than other factors. Factor models of MS and NAFLD showed a good fit to the data. As a latent factor, MS was significantly associated with increased risk of NAFLD. CONCLUSIONS: MS may be a risk factor of NAFLD. MS and its components may play important roles in the development of NAFLD.

Immunomodulatory and clinical effects of the "tiaomian III decoction" in patients with blood blocking antibody deficiency and recurrent spontaneous abortion.

We studied the immunomodulatory and clinical effects of the empirical formula "tiaomian III decoction" on maternal blood blocking antibody deficiency and recurrent spontaneous abortion. Sixty-one patients with blocking antibody deficiency were divided in the experimental group (N = 31), who took tiaomian III decoction, and the control group (N = 30), who received active immunotherapy with paternal lymphocytes; both treatments lasted 3 months. Blocking antibodies, anti-idiotypic antibodies, interleukin, T-lymphocyte subsets, and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) were tested. After treatment, the positive conversion rate reached 87.1 and 86.7% in the experimental and control groups, respectively. After treatment, CD4 levels decreased while CD8 levels increased in both groups. The CD4/CD8 ratio was higher than normal and increased significantly from pre-treatment (P < 0.05). IL-10 and M-CSF levels increased significantly in both groups (P < 0.05). The 1-year conception rates of the experimental and control groups were 58.1 and 46.7%, respectively (P < 0.05). The results show the tiaomian III decoction can increase the positive conversion rate of maternal blocking antibodies and promote the production of IL-10 and M-CSF. Thus, it strengthens the maternal body's protection of the fetus and maintenance of conception. The higher conception rate of the experimental group demonstrates the positive clinic efficacy of the tiaomian III decoction on maternal blood blocking antibody deficiency and recurrent spontaneous abortion.