Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: new additional non-invasive diagnostic markers and risks of comorbid diseases

Abstract

Background. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a pressing issue in modern society. While excess circulating glucose and insulin resistance contribute to its pathogenesis, the diagnosis poses particular challenges. The purpose of the study was to identify new additional non-invasive diagnostic markers of NAFLD and the risk of developing comorbid diseases in these patients. Materials and methods. The study involved 64 men aged 39 to 62 years: 35 patients were diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease according to EASL-EASD-EASO guidelines, 29 patients comprised the control group. The results of complete blood count, biochemical blood tests, and abdominal ultrasound were evaluated in both groups. Results. Patients with NAFLD had significantly higher body weight and body mass index, higher glucose, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins, atherogenic index, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase. Additional non-invasive markers of NAFLD were high body mass index, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins, atherogenic index, and alanine aminotransferase, which may also indicate future risks of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Conclusions. Among patients with NAFLD within three years, hypertension occurred in 22.2 % of cases and type 2 diabetes in 20.0 %, which is higher than in patients without NAFLD (8.7 and 4.3 %, respectively). We found that at the time of initial examination, patients with NAFLD had higher body weight and body mass index, as well as higher glucose, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins, atherogenic index, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase. From these metrics, we identified high body mass index, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins, atherogenic index, alkaline phosphatase as potential non-invasive risk markers for NAFLD. This highlights the importance of studying them for the early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and hypertension, which could improve the treatment of this cohort of patients in the future.