Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease assessment in Nepal

Abstract

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common entity seen in routine ultrasonography of the patients. The study also aims to demonstrate its relationship with biochemical markers and anthropometric measurement. Methods: It was a retrospective observational study of the patients who had come for general health check-up where routine clinical history and examination, ultrasound of the abdomen and biochemical tests for liver function and lipid profile were performed. Exclusion made in the study includes alcoholic patients and other secondary causes of the fatty changes in the liver. Ultrasound staging was done for control (no steatosis), mild, moderate and severe fatty changes of the liver. Software named SPSS Statistics version 16.0 used for the proforma and analysis of data. Results: In a total of ninety-nine patients, NAFLD was seen higher in women with 57.1%. The mild fatty liver was observed in 55.1%, moderate fatty liver in 32.7% and severe fatty liver in 12.2% of the patients. There were significantly higher triglycerides (TG) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels as the severity of fatty liver increased. Cholesterol high density lipoprotein (HDL) was significantly lower as the severity of fatty liver increased. When compared to normal counterparts, overweight and obese patients had 4.2 and 5.1 times increased the risk of having NAFLD. Elevated ALT (OR=2.5, CI=1.8-3.6), triglyceride (OR=2.3, CI=1.6-3.4) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) (OR=1.6, CI=1.1-2.3) levels were associated with NAFLD. Conclusions: Increased body mass index had more risk of having non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. HDL significantly decreased as the severity of fatty liver increased. ALT, TG, and VLDL concentrations showed strong association of being raised in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients.