Correlation of visfatin level with non-alcoholic fatty liver in metabolic syndrome

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common public health problem. Visfatin is secreted by visceral adipose tissue and is an adipocytokine. It could be a pro-inflammatory adipocytokine and is related to the metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This study evaluated the association between visfatin levels in patients with the metabolic syndrome with and without non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 120 patients with metabolic syndrome were selected. They were categorized into two groups, patients with fatty liver (n=70) and without fatty liver disease (n=50). Laboratory and anthropometric options such as age, sex, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, liver enzymes, uric acid, visfatin, insulin, BMI, waist circumference, and TNF-α were measured. The chi-square test, Mann-Whitney, t test, Spearman and Pearson correlations were used for the data analysis. Results: There was a significant difference between the fatty liver and non-fatty liver disease with visfatin, BMI, FBS and lipid profile (p<0.05). The mean±SD level of visfatin was 37.1±1.7 ng/dl in the non-fatty liver and was 44.4±1.5 ng/dl in fatty liver participants (p=0.02). 59% of patients with metabolic syndrome had fatty liver in ultrasonography. Conclusion: According to this study, there was a correlation between visfatin levels and fatty liver disease.