Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a frequent condition in type 2 diabetic patients

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease represents an excessive fat accumulation in the liver of patients with no other liver disease and no history of alcohol abuse. It is associated with insulin resistance, being more prevalent in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Our aim was to assess the prevalence of fatty liver and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in patients with type 2 diabetes and to evaluate the influence of obesity on its prevalence.

We included 348 type 2 diabetes patients (age: 18-65 years), without a history of liver disease or alcohol abuse. We assessed demographical data, medical history, physical examination, blood tests, and abdominal ultrasonography.

The prevalence of liver steatosis in our group was 87.1 %, with no significant differences between men and women. Patients with steatosis had higher abdominal circumference, body mass index (BMI; p = 0.001), and serum triglyceride (p < 0.0001), HbA1c (p < 0.001), and alaninaminotranspherase levels (ALT, p = 0.001). The value of BMI, abdominal circumference, and serum triglyceride levels independently influenced the prevalence of liver steatosis; the influence of HbA1c level was not significant. In 23.9 % of the patients with steatosis, we found elevated liver enzymes.

We observed an elevated prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (87.1 %) in type 2 diabetic patients. The factors influencing this prevalence are BMI, abdominal circumference,and serum triglyceride levels.