Correlation Between Fatty Liver and Lipidemia in Taiwanese

Abstract

Fatty liver is associated with overweight, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia and alcoholism. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the severity of fatty liver and the composition of lipidemia. Subjects with normal liver sonogram (138), mild fatty liver (75), moderate fatty liver (95), and severe fatty liver (29) were randomly collected from patients who underwent complete tests in the Health Test Center. Age, gender, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and blood sugar data were collected. BMI, blood pressure, AST, ALT, cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, LDL-C, and blood sugar were significantly higher, and HDL-C was significantly lower in patients with fatty liver. Increases in BMI, triglyceride concentration, VLDL-C and blood sugar were positively related to the severity of fatty liver, while HDL-C was negatively related. Cholesterol concentration and LDL-C were no higher in moderate and severe than in mild fatty liver. HDL-C was significantly lower in males than in females for both normal subjects (46.4 ± 12.9 vs 53.4 ± 15.2 mg%, p = 0.004) and subjects with fatty liver (38.8 ± 11.4 vs 46.4 ± 13.1 mg%, p < 0.001). In both sexes with mild fatty liver, HDL-C was no lower than in normal liver, but was significantly higher than in moderate fatty liver (46.6 ± 14.3 vs 40.1 ± 11.5 mg%, p = 0.02). The mean HDL-C in severe fatty liver in males was 35.6 ± 6.2 mg%. Serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, LDL-C and blood sugar were significantly higher, and HDL-C was significantly lower in fatty liver than in normal liver. Patients with moderate and severe fatty liver had significantly lower HDL-C concentrations, especially males with severe fatty liver (35.6 ± 6.2 mg%). Low HDL-C is a risk factor for coronary heart disease.