Sonographic Analysis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Its Correlation with Obesity
Obesity and NAFLD: Insights from Sonographic Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69750/dmls.01.08.070Keywords:
NAFLD, Obesity, ALT, Metabolic Syndrome, Sonography, Liver Echogenicity, SteatosisAbstract
Background: NAFLD is strongly associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome, arguably the most common liver disorders worldwide. To provide early diagnosis and prevention, we need to understand its predictors.
Objectives: This study aimed to identify the clinical, biochemical and sonographic predictors for NAFLD in a cohort of patients with multivariate analysis.
Methods: In our study, 537 patients: 340 with NAFLD as diagnosed by sonography. Clinical parameters (BMI and waist circumference) and biochemical markers (ALT, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol) were compared with demographic characteristics (age, gender and marital status). Sonographic findings involved evaluation of liver echogenicity, hepatomegaly, and steatosis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of NAFLD predictors.
Results: All three measures (BMI, OR = 3.21, 95% CI: 1.8–5.3; waist circumference, OR = 4.02, 95% CI: 2.5–6.0; and waist/hip ratio, OR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.3–3.3) were significantly associated with NAFLD. Elevated ALT (OR = 2.55, 95% CI: 1. The associations between NAFLD and 9–3.8), triglycerides (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.2–1.9), and HDL cholesterol (OR = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.18–0.63) were lower. Sonographically, increased liver echogenicity (OR = 3.50, 95% CI: 2. Prevalence of NAFLD patients was 8–4.8 and (OR = 4.85, 95% CI: 3.2–7.1) for steatosis.
Conclusion: Strong association exists between NAFLD and obesity, metabolic dysfunction, and characteristic sonographic features. Preventing disease progression requires early detection, via ultrasound, with weight loss and metabolic control interventions.
Downloads
References
Leivas G, Maraschin CK, Blume CA, Telo GH, Trindade MRM, Trindade EN, et al. Accuracy of ultrasound diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients with classes II and III obesity: A pathological image study. Obesity Research & Clinical Practice. 2021;15(5):461-5.doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orcp.2021.09.002
Atri A, Jiwanmall SA, Nandyal MB, Kattula D, Paravathareddy S, Paul TV, et al. The Prevalence and Predictors of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Morbidly Obese Women - A Cross-sectional Study from Southern India. Eur Endocrinol. 2020;16(2):152-5.doi: 10.17925/ee.2020.16.2.152
Villani R, Lupo P, Sangineto M, Romano AD, Serviddio G. Liver Ultrasound Elastography in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A State-of-the-Art Summary. Diagnostics [Internet]. 2023; 13(7).doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13071236
Kim S-h, Park HY, Lee HS, Jung KS, Lee MH, Jhee JH, et al. Association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and coronary calcification depending on sex and obesity. Scientific Reports. 2020;10(1):1025.doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-57894-y
Lupsor-Platon M, Serban T, Silion AI, Tirpe GR, Tirpe A, Florea M. Performance of Ultrasound Techniques and the Potential of Artificial Intelligence in the Evaluation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Cancers [Internet]. 2021; 13(4).doi: 10.3390/cancers13040790
Reis SS, Callejas GH, Marques RA, Gestic MA, Utrini MP, Chaim FDM, et al. Correlation Between Anthropometric Measurements and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Individuals With Obesity Undergoing Bariatric Surgery: Cross-Sectional Study. Obesity Surgery. 2021;31(8):3675-85.doi: 10.1007/s11695-021-05470-2
Popa A, Bende F, Șirli R, Popescu A, Bâldea V, Lupușoru R, et al. Quantification of Liver Fibrosis, Steatosis, and Viscosity Using Multiparametric Ultrasound in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease: A “Real-Life” Cohort Study. Diagnostics [Internet]. 2021; 11(5).doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11050783
Ezenwuba BN, Hynes CM. Ultrasound screening of paediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): A critical literature review. Radiography. 2024;30(5):1317-25.doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2024.07.006
Chimoriya R, Piya MK, Simmons D, Ahlenstiel G, Ho V. The Use of Two-Dimensional Shear Wave Elastography in People with Obesity for the Assessment of Liver Fibrosis in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Journal of Clinical Medicine [Internet]. 2021; 10(1).doi: 10.3390/jcm10010095
Ismaiel A, Spinu M, Budisan L, Leucuta D-C, Popa S-L, Chis BA, et al. Relationship between Adipokines and Cardiovascular Ultrasound Parameters in Metabolic-Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease. Journal of Clinical Medicine [Internet]. 2021; 10(21).doi: 10.3390/jcm10215194
Dorostghol M, Gharibvand MM, Hanafi MG, Motamedfar A. Comparison of size of the liver between patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and healthy controls. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 2024;13(2):425-30.doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_94_23
De Nucci S, Castellana F, Zupo R, Lampignano L, Di Chito M, Rinaldi R, et al. Associations between serum biomarkers and non-alcoholic liver disease: Results of a clinical study of Mediterranean patients with obesity. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2022;9.doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.1002669
Castellana M, Donghia R, Guerra V, Procino F, Lampignano L, Castellana F, et al. Performance of Fatty Liver Index in Identifying Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Population Studies. A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Clinical Medicine [Internet]. 2021; 10(9).doi: 10.3390/jcm10091877
Değertekin B, Tozun N, Demir F, Söylemez G, Parkan Ş, Gürtay E, et al. The Changing Prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in Turkey in the Last Decade. Turk J Gastroenterol. 2021;32(3):302-12.doi: 10.5152/tjg.2021.20062
Zheng M, Chengliang C, Chen Y, Gopal N, Ramesh R, Jiao J. Diagnostic performance of fibroscan and computed tomography in 322 normal alanine aminotransferase non-obese non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients diagnosed by ultrasound. International Journal of Clinical Practice. 2020;74(12):e13635.doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.13635
Barros BSV, Monteiro FC, Terra C, Gomes MB. Prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and its associated factors in individuals with type 1 diabetes: a cross-sectional study in a tertiary care center in Brazil. Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome. 2021;13(1):33.doi: 10.1186/s13098-021-00649-0
Durdikova A, Durdik P, Prso M, Dvorska D, Remen L, Vojtkova J, et al. Elastography as a non-invasive method of screening non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the adult phenotype of paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea. Sleep and Breathing. 2024.doi: 10.1007/s11325-024-03149-3
Umano GR, Grandone A, Di Sessa A, Cozzolino D, Pedullà M, Marzuillo P, et al. Pediatric obesity-related non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: waist-to-height ratio best anthropometrical predictor. Pediatric Research. 2021;90(1):166-70.doi: 10.1038/s41390-020-01192-w
Koneru K, Bhatt V, Kakrani A, Edara M, Reddy VT, Jawade PG. A study of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease-liver fat score in overweight and obese individuals. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 2022;11(8):4368-74.doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_58_22
Kechagias S, Ekstedt M, Simonsson C, Nasr P. Non-invasive diagnosis and staging of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Hormones. 2022;21(3):349-68.doi: 10.1007/s42000-022-00377-8
Miele L, Zocco MA, Pizzolante F, De Matthaeis N, Ainora ME, Liguori A, et al. Use of imaging techniques for non-invasive assessment in the diagnosis and staging of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Metabolism. 2020;112:154355.doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154355
Li Y, Chen Y, Tian X, Zhang S, Jiao J. Comparison of Clinical Characteristics Between Obese and Non-Obese Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity. 2021;14(null):2029-39.doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S304634
Grąt K, Grąt M, Rowiński O. Usefulness of Different Imaging Modalities in Evaluation of Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Biomedicines [Internet]. 2020; 8(9).doi: 10.3390/biomedicines8090298
Downloads
PlumX Metrics
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICO-LIFE-SCIENCES
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/public domain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
