Observational studyBMJ open2021
Association between complement C3 and the prevalence of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease in a Chinese population: a cross-sectional study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between serum complement C3 and polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- Association of complement components with the risk and severity of NAFLD: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Targeting adipocyte ESRRA alleviates osteoarthritis via interrupting inter-organelle crosstalk of complement C3-CFD-MAC cascade.Bone research · 2026Article
- Integrating multi-omics and machine learning systematically deciphers cellular heterogeneity and fibrotic regulatory networks in the progression from MASLD to MASH.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Reduced C3 Levels Link Dyslipidemia and Renal Involvement in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Article
- Serum complement C3 as a diagnostic biomarker for metabolic dysfunction -associated steatotic liver disease in middle-aged and elderly adults: a cross-sectional study.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Early elevation of complement-related proteins in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) with normal liver enzymes.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Article
- Complement C3 promotes islet β-cell dedifferentiation by activating Wnt/β-catenin pathway.iScience · 2024Article
- Effect of dapagliflozin on proteomics and metabolomics of serum from patients with type 2 diabetes.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2023Article
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in inflammatory arthritis: Relationship with cardiovascular risk.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesRecently studies demonstrated that adipose tissue can produce and release complement C3 and serum complement C3 levels were associated with diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Thus, we plan to investigate the association of complement C3 levels and the presence of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD).
designObservational study with a cross-sectional sample.
settingThis study surveyed 4729 participants in Zhejiang province, China.
participants55 participants were excluded for acute infection and 1001 participants were excluded for lack of ultrasonography diagnoses and complete or partial absence of laboratory tests. The final sample size was 3673 participants. OUTCOME MEASURES: Spearman correlation analysis was used to examine the correlations between complement C3 levels and variables. Binary logistic regression was carried out to evaluate the association between complement C3 levels and the presence of MAFLD after adjustment for demographic and biochemical variables. Mediation effects were used to explore whether insulin resistance (IR), hyperlipidaemia and obesity mediated the association between complement C3 and MAFLD.
resultsParticipants with MAFLD had higher complement C3 levels and complement C3 levels were closely associated with body mass index, waist circumference, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase and homoeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-IR. The presence of MAFLD increased with the increase of complement C3 levels and the presence of MAFLD were highest in the HOMA-IR ≥2.5 participants. We found the OR and Cl of standardised C3 for MAFLD was 1.333 (1.185-1.500), each 1 SD increase in C3 would increase the presence of MAFLD by 33.3%, and obesity partly mediated the effect of complement C3 on the presence of MAFLD.
conclusionsThe present results suggest that complement C3 can be used as a risk factor for the presence of MAFLD after adjustment for confounding variables and obesity may partly mediate the effect of complement C3 on the presence of MAFLD.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.