The ultrasonographic and pathomorphological markers of liver steatosis in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease depending on the presence of comorbid chronic kidney disease (chronic pyelonephritis) and obesity

Abstract

Objective — to establish the peculiarities of ultrasonographic and pathomorphological changes of liver parenchyma in patients with non-alcoholic liver steatosis (NAS) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) depending on the presence of comorbid chronic kidney disease (CKD) and obesity Materials and methods. The examinations involved 384 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), from them 84 subjects with I degree obesity (1 group) were divided into 2 subgroups: 32 patients with NAS and 52 patients with NASH. The second group consisted of 270 patients with NAFLD with comorbid I degree obesity and CKD І—ІІІ stage and included 110 patients with NAS and 160 patients with NASH. The control group consisted of 90 patients with CKD of the І—ІІІ stage with normal body weight (group 3). The mean age of patients was (45.8 ± 3.81) years. Results and discussion. The study demonstrated that the comorbidity of obesity and NASH with CKD increases the degree of steatosis (the area of hepatocytes affected by fatty liver dystrophy), the degree of ballooning degeneration, hyaline-drop dystrophy; the dystrophic changes in the centrilobular zone (3) deepen in the middle of the lobe with the development of panacinar injury and the involvement of zone 1. The course of NASH with CKD is characterized by a significantly higher incidence and intensity of clinical syndromes and the degree of biochemical and histological activity, which leads to the progression of fibrotic changes in the liver F2—F3. Conclusions. The NASH and CKD comorbidity is characterized by a higher degree of liver steatosis (LSD) (hepatorenal index 1.3 times higher than in the group of patients with NASH, p < 0.05) and the higher diagnostic threshold of values of the hepatotoxic index, which in strong interdependence correlates with the degree of steatosis of the liver, determined by Steato-test (r = 0.87; p < 0.001). In patients with NAS and NASH without comorbid pathology, a significant degree of LSD was found, with NASH it exceeds the reference values by 3.3 times (p < 0.05) and with NAS — by 1.8 times (p < 0.05). In comorbidity with CKD in patients with NAS, LSD was 3.5 times higher (p < 0.05) and in patients with NASH — 4.6 times higher (p < 0.05) than the reference values (p < 0.05).