Serum Fatty Acid Composition Balance by Fuzzy C-Means Method in Individuals with or without Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

Circulating fatty acid composition is assumed to play an important role in metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) pathogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the association between the overall balance of serum fatty acid composition and MAFLD prevalence. This cross-sectional study involved 400 Japanese individuals recruited from a health-screening program. We measured fatty acids in serum lipids using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The serum fatty acid composition balance was evaluated using fuzzy c-means clustering, which assigns individual data points to multiple clusters and calculates the percentage of data points belonging to multiple clusters, and serum fatty acid mass%. The participants were classified into four characteristic subclasses (i.e., Clusters 1, 2, 3, and 4), and the specific serum fatty acid composition balance (i.e., Cluster 4) was associated with a higher MAFLD prevalence. We suggest that the fuzzy c-means method can be used to determine the circulating fatty acid composition balance and highlight the importance of focusing on this balance when examining the relationship between MAFLD and serum fatty acids.