Investigating the Associations of Coffee with Non-traditional Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Coffee consumption has consistently been associated with a reduction in risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), although the mechanism for this association remains unknown. Sub-clinical inflammation, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and lipoprotein abnormalities characterize and predict T2DM. Limited evidence suggests that coffee may have a beneficial role in these disorders but further investigation is warranted. Our aim therefore was to investigate the associations of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee with markers of inflammation, liver injury, and lipoproteins, in a non-diabetic cohort. No significant associations of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee with inflammatory markers or lipoproteins were identified. Caffeinated coffee consumption however was inversely associated with alanine aminotransferase (β= -0.09, p= 0.0107) and aspartate aminotransferase (β= -0.05, p= 0.0161) in multivariate analysis. Decaffeinated coffee was not associated with liver enzymes. These analyses suggest that caffeinated coffee’s beneficial impact on NAFLD may be a potential mechanism for its inverse association with T2DM.MAS