title: Age at menarche is associated with the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease later in life.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the present study was to investigate whether age at menarche is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) later in life.
  
  
  METHODS
  The association between age at menarche and obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD after menopause was investigated in a cross-sectional study of 4128 postmenopausal Chinese women; NAFLD was diagnosed by hepatic ultrasound and information regarding age at menarche was collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with age at menarche <15 years had higher prevalence of overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD compared with women with age at menarche 15-18 or >18 years. Logistic regression revealed that women with earlier menarche had a higher risk for the age-adjusted prevalence of overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD, whereas later menarche showed a weaker, but still significant, association with a lower prevalence of NAFLD. However, further adjustment for some variables and current body mass index (BMI) or homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) attenuated the association between later menarche and a lower prevalence of NAFLD. A decreasing trend in the risk of NAFLD was seen across increasing levels of age at menarche (age-adjusted Ptrend< 0.001; multivariate-adjusted Ptrend< 0.001; multivariate + current BMI-adjusted Ptrend= 0.03; multivariate + HOMA-IR-adjusted Ptrend= 0.06).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Age at menarche is associated with the prevalence of NAFLD later in life, independent of BMI and insulin resistance.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jieli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital North, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Tiange
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital North, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Weiqing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yufang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Donghui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital North, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Rui Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China.|Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital North, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ning
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008572:Menarche; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: age at menarche; insulin resistance; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; obesity