Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship between severity of liver steatosis and metabolic parameters in a sample of Iranian adults. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 95 subjects aged > 20 years newly diagnosed with NAFLD were recruited. NAFLD was diagnosed using ultrasonography by a single expert radiologist in a fasting state.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 49.27 (SD 9.7) years, with 53.68% males and 46.32% females. Most patients had grade I NAFLD (72.63%), 25.26% were grade II, and 2.11% were grade III on ultrasonography. With increasing severity of liver steatosis, there were statistically significant increases in mean body mass index (P = 0.001), serum triglycerides (P = 0.026), alanine aminotransferase (P < 0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (P < 0.001), and fasting blood sugar (P = 0.041), and there was a statistically significant decrease in mean serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.011). However, no association was found between severity of liver steatosis and serum total cholesterol (P = 0.271), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.341), and alkaline phosphatase (P = 0.234). In conclusion, the severity of ultrasonographic liver steatosis was significantly associated with abnormal metabolic parameters.
Keywords: Body mass index; Metabolic parameters; NAFLD; Obesity; Ultrasonography.