Metabolic Profile of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Non-Obese Patients

Md. Shafiqul Islam, FM Monjur Hasan, Sumaia Jahan, Raihan Ahmad, Md. Ahsan Habib and Richmond Ronald Gomes*

Background: NAFLD is a growing menace globally, with an estimated global prevalence of 25.2%. It affects 10 to 24 percent of the general population in various countries. The reported global prevalence rate of non-obese NAFLD varies widely, ranging from 3% to almost 30%. Asian studies also report that NASH is frequently found in non-obese NAFLD. In Bangladesh, about one-third of the population is affected by NAFLD. 

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the metabolic profile of NAFLD in non-obese patients attending a tertiary care hospital. 

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in department of medicine and department of gastroenterology and hepatology at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, Rajshahi from January 2022 to June 2022. Total 100 patients were enrolled by purposive sampling technique. 

Results: Among 100 patients, mean age was 40.82 years with female predominance (53%). Most of the patients were normotensive (77%) and non-diabetic (55%) and non-smoker (52%) but 57% had hypothyroidism. The body mass index in male was 21.32 ± 1.3 (SD) kg/m2 and body mass index female was 20.5 ± 2.15 (SD) kg/m2. The waist circumference in male was 76.572 ± 5.395 (SD) cm and in female was 74.512 ± 5.523 (SD) cm. Among the respondents 30% had Fasting Blood glucose > 5.5 mmol/L and 40% had Blood glucose 2 h after breakfast > 11.1 mmol/L. Majority of the respondents fasting lipid profile showed cholesterol level ≥ 200 mg/dl in 73%, triglyceride level ≥ 200 mg/dl in 72%, LDL ≥ 130 mg/dl in 58% and HDL level ≤ 40 mg/dl was 51% patients. Among the respondents 60% had TSH > 5 mIU /L and 57% had Free T4 < 0.7 ng/dl. Among the respondents 57% had aspartate aminotransferase (AST) > 40 U/L, 56% had alanine aminotransferase (ALT) > 40 U/L and 46% had gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) > 30 U/L. Majority of respondents 36% had Grade 1 fatty liver followed in decreasing order by 34% had Grade 3 fatty liver and 30% had Grade 2 fatty liver. 

Conclusion: Non-obese NAFLD is likely a different entity than obese NAFLD, with its unique genetic predisposition. This study found that components of metabolic syndrome were quite frequent among study population. More than half of the study population had altered level of Liver function enzyme, hypothyroidism and dyslipidemia and approximately 45% of patients had diabetes mellitus.

Keywords:

Published on: May 7, 2025 Pages: 7-13

Full Text PDF Full Text HTML DOI: 10.17352/ijcem.000065
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