Clinical and Biochemical Predictors of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Obese Children and Adolescents [post]

Hoda Atwa, Ahmed Ibrahim, Husseiny Abd-Allah, Jacklien Labib
2021 unpublished
Background Obesity and associated co-morbidities are growing worldwide, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which become one of the leading causes of chronic liver diseases in both children and adults. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical and biochemical predictors associated with NAFLD among obese children. Materials and Methods Ninety obese children and adolescents, aged 12–18 years, were enrolled in this study. All were subjected to anthropometric
more » ... biochemical analysis included fasting blood glucose, serum insulin, serum triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and liver function tests. Ultrasonography was used to diagnose NAFLD. Results The frequency of NAFLD was 38.9% among obese children 68.6% of them met the criteria of metabolic syndrome. Children with NAFLD had significantly higher body mass index, waist circumference, ALT, total cholesterol, LDL-c, TG, fasting insulin, and lower HDL-c compared to patients with normal liver ultrasound (p < 0.05). Insulin resistance was significantly more common among NAFLD group (88.6% vs. 18.2%) (p < 001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that BMI and HOMA-IR are the independent predictors for NAFLD with (P 0.034 and 0.022) respectively Conclusion More than one third of obese children have NAFLD, which is closely linked to metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance.
doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-261139/v1 fatcat:zucbtb3eorcnrlhgqvfvnah6mq