A case-control regression analysis of liver enzymes in obesity-induced metabolic disorders in South Asian females

Abstract

Excessive body weight may disrupt hepatic enzymes that may be aggravated by obesity-related comorbidities. The current case-control study was designed to evaluate the extent of liver enzyme alteration in obesity-related metabolic disorders. Obese females with BMI ≥ 30 suffering from metabolic disorders were grouped according to existing co-morbidity and their hepatic enzymes were compared with non-obese healthy females. The resultant data was subjected to analysis of variance and mean difference in liver enzymes were calculated at P = 0.05. Analysis of variance indicated that obese diabetic and obese hypertensive females had almost 96% and 67% increase in the concentration of gamma-glutamyl transferase than control, respectively (P<0.0001). The obese females suffering from diabetes and hypertension exhibited nearly 54% enhancement in alanine transaminase level (P<0.0001) and a 17% increase in aspartate aminotransferase concentration (P = 0.0028). Obesity along with infertility decline liver enzyme production and a 31% significant decline in aspartate aminotransferase was observed while other enzyme concentrations were not significantly altered. Regression analysis was performed on the resultant data to understand the association between liver enzyme alteration and the development of metabolic diseases. Regression analysis indicated that obese diabetic and obese diabetic hypertensive women had 20% production of normal liver enzymes and 80% enzymes produced abnormally. Obese hypertensive and obese infertile females had only 5% and 6% normal production of liver enzymes, respectively. This research leads to the conclusion that the ability of the liver to function normally is reduced in obesity-related diabetes and hypertension. This may be due to inflamed and injured liver and poses a serious threat to developing fatty liver disease and ultimately liver cirrhosis.