Association between IgG N-glycans and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Han Chinese

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major public health issue worldwide. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) N-glycans are associated with risk factors for NAFLD, such as obesity and diabetes. A cross-sectional study involving 500 Han Chinese adults recruited from a community in Beijing was carried out to explore the association between IgG N-glycans and NAFLD. IgG N-glycosylation was significantly associated with NAFLD, with the disease showing a negative correlation with galactosylation (GP14, GP14n, and G2n), positive correlation with fucosylation (FBG2n/G2n), and positive correlation with bisecting N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) [FBG2n/FG2n and FBG2n/(FG2n+FBG2n)], after controlling age, gender, and prevalence of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. In other words, the present study showed a possible association between NAFLD and the loss of galactose and elevations of fucose and bisecting GlcNAc. Aberrant IgG glycosylation might therefore be a potential biomarker for the primary or secondary prevention of NAFLD.