Association of Alpha-1 Acid Glycoprotein with Hepatic Steatosis and Liver Fibrosis Among Women: A Population-Based Study

Background and Aim: The alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) is a novel inflammatory biomarker, and inflammation has been implicated in hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between AGP and hepatic steatosis and hepatic fibrosis and to assess its value as a potential biomarker. Methods and Results In this study, the authors used data from NHANES between 2017 and 2023, adopting a cross-sectional design. In the multivariate linear regression model, the natural logarithm of alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (Ln AGP) was considered in relation to CAP and LSM. Smooth curve fitting was performed to address potential nonlinear relationships. This study involved 2,608 adult women, aged 18 to 49 years. In the multiple linear regression model, a noteworthy positive association was observed between ln-transformed AGP and CAP, yielding an estimated regression coefficient of 11.93 (95% CI: 4.73–19.12) and a p-value of 0.0012. However, the multivariate regression analysis did not demonstrate a statistically significant association between Ln AGP and LSM, with an regression coefficient of -0.42 (95% CI: -0.92, 0.08) and a p-value of 0.0983. Conclusions Our findings indicate that elevated concentrations of AGP may be associated with hepatic steatosis, but no statistical association was found between the level of AGP and hepatic fibrosis. Large-scale and rigorously designed forward-looking investigations are crucial to substantiate and validate these findings.