Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH): Risk Factors in Morbidly Obese Patients

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Alexandre Losekann¹  Antonio C. Weston²  Angelo A. de Mattos¹  Cristiane V. Tovo¹  Luis A. de Carli²  Marilia B. Espindola²  Sergio R. Pioner²  Gabriela P. Coral¹  Amedeo Lonardo³ 

[1] Post-Graduation Program, Hepatology at Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre 90.050-170, Brasil; E-Mails:;Centro de Tratamento da Obesidade (CTO), Hospital Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre 92.010-300, Brasil; E-Mails:Post-Graduation Program, Hepatology at Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre 90.050-170, Brasil;

关键词: NAFLD;    NASH;    morbidly obese;    liver fibrosis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms161025552

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The aim was to investigate the prevalence of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and risk factors for hepatic fibrosis in morbidly obese patients submitted to bariatric surgery. This retrospective study recruited all patients submitted to bariatric surgery from January 2007 to December 2012 at a reference attendance center of Southern Brazil. Clinical and biochemical data were studied as a function of the histological findings of liver biopsies done during the surgery. Steatosis was present in 226 (90.4%) and NASH in 176 (70.4%) cases. The diagnosis of cirrhosis was established in four cases (1.6%) and fibrosis in 108 (43.2%). Risk factors associated with NASH at multivariate analysis were alanine aminotransferase (ALT) >1.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN); glucose ≥ 126 mg/dL and triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL. All patients with ALT ≥1.5 times the ULN had NASH. When the presence of fibrosis was analyzed, ALT > 1.5 times the ULN and triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL were risk factors, furthermore, there was an increase of 1% in the prevalence of fibrosis for each year of age increase. Not only steatosis, but NASH is a frequent finding in MO patients. In the present study, ALT ≥ 1.5 times the ULN identifies all patients with NASH, this finding needs to be further validated in other studies. Moreover, the presence of fibrosis was associated with ALT, triglycerides and age, identifying a subset of patients with more severe disease.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.