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Abstract

Background: Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is the most increasing chronic liver condition with a global prevalence of 30%. Metabolic factors like Obesity, Diabetes Mellitus are considered as major risk factors. Complications include cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The correlation between metabolic risk factors and NAFLD is known but needs to be highlighted through contextual evidence.
Objective: To investigate the frequency of various metabolic factors and their association with Alanine Transaminase levels in patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
Method: It was a cross-sectional study carried out over 6 months in the Liver Center and Central Diagnostic Laboratory, Mayo Hospital, Lahore in 2023-24. A sample of 124 patients ultrasonically confirmed (Moderate to severe steatosis) was recruited and LFTs, lipid profile and fasting blood sugar were measured. Data was analyzed by SPSS v26. The descriptive statistics calculated, and Pearson correlation and simple linear regression were applied.
P value of <0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Out of 124 patients, 42 (34%) were males and 82 (66%) were females. The prevalence of NAFLD with raised ALT was 61.3% and with normal ALT was 38.7%. Central obesity in NAFLD patients was 98% according to waist circumference and 57.3% according to their BMI. 45% of NAFLD patients showed the features of Metabolic Syndrome while the remaining 55% did not. Elevated ALT levels were strongly correlated with the metabolic risk factors present in NAFLD patients (p = 0.019), repeated treatment (p = 0.049) as well as treatment failure (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Investigation of various metabolic factors in diagnosed NAFLD patients suggests that Obesity is the most common metabolic factor followed by Type 2 Diabetes and then Hypertriglyceridemia. NAFLD showed a strong correlation to raised ALT levels, present in female population more than the male. Moreover, raised ALT levels in NAFLD patients also showed a strong association with metabolic risk factors.