Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38861177›Full record

ArticleBiological trace element research2025

Association Between Serum Zinc and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Advanced Liver Fibrosis: NHANES 2011-2016.

Miaomin Ye, Yijia He, Yin Xia, Ziyi Zhong, Xiaocen Kong, Yunting Zhou, Wenqing Xia, Weiping Wang, Huan Fan, Lu Chen and 2 more

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Article in Biological trace element research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Miaomin Ye *Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Yijia He *Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Yin XiaDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Ziyi ZhongDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Xiaocen KongDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Yunting ZhouDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Wenqing XiaDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Weiping WangDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Huan FanDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Lu ChenDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Xiaohui WuDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Qian LiDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China. shygu@njmu.edu.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Limited and inconclusive evidence exists regarding the correlation between serum zinc levels and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and advanced fibrosis. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between serum zinc concentration and both NAFLD and advanced liver fibrosis among the United States (US) adults. 3398 subjects from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2016 were included. Serum zinc concentration was measured by inductively coupled plasma dynamic reaction cell mass spectrometry (ICP-DRC-MS). NAFLD was diagnosed with Hepatic Steatosis Index (HSI), and advanced fibrosis risk was assessed by NAFLD Fibrosis Score (NFS). Weighted logistic regression and restricted cubic splines (RCS) were used to examine the association between serum zinc concentration and NAFLD and advanced fibrosis. Linear trend tests were conducted by incorporating the median of serum zinc quartiles as a continuous variable in the models. We employed sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis to enhance the robustness of our results. The results from the RCS regression revealed no evident nonlinear relationship between serum zinc concentration and the presence of NAFLD and advanced fibrosis (p-nonlinear > 0.05). Compared with those in the lowest quartile (Q1) of serum zinc concentrations, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of NAFLD were 1.49 (0.89,2.49) in Q2, 0.99 (0.68,1.45) in Q3, and 2.00 (1.40,2.86) in Q4 (p-trend = 0.002). Similarly, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for advanced fibrosis in Q2-4 compared to Q1 were 0.86 (0.50,1.47), 0.60 (0.26,1.39), and 0.41 (0.21,0.77), respectively (p-trend = 0.006). Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses reinforce the same conclusion. The investigation revealed a positive linear relationship between serum zinc concentrations and the probability of developing NAFLD. Conversely, an inverse correlation was observed between serum zinc concentrations and the incidence of advanced liver fibrosis among individuals diagnosed with NAFLD.

Indexed as

Liver CirrhosisNon-alcoholic Fatty Liver DiseaseZincAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNutrition SurveysUnited StatesZincAdvanced fibrosisCross-sectional studyNAFLDNHANESSerum zinc concentration

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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.