Liver enzymes in patients diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Veracruz: a comparative analysis with the literature

Abstract

Background: Up to the present, NAFLD diagnosis has been established through the invasive method of biopsy. The search for a non-invasive alternative, for example biomarkers, is a motive for research. Previous studies have shown that for diabetic or obese patients with NAFLD, the profile of liver enzymes as NAFLD biomarkers has so far not defined pathological liver condition as such. This study aim was comparatively analyze the results of previous research on liver function enzymes of obese patients with NAFLD and to corroborate them with this type of patient in Veracruz. Methods and Findings: Forty hospital patients were recruited and classified according to their body mass index (BMI) into 4 groups: Group A (Overweight), Group B (Grade I obesity), Group C (Grade II obesity) and Group D (Grade III obesity), leaving aside those who had a history of hepatitis or consumption of alcoholic beberages. A survey was conducted on these patients to determine sex, signs of liver disease, medicine consumption; laboratory studies which included glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, alanine aminotranferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein, and total bilirrubin were also determined. Glucose levels were directly related to BMI, and the most frequent disorder was elevation of ALT levels (72.5%), higher than AST (25%) and ALP (45%). Some variables of the lipid profile showed a significant (P<0.05) elevation of triglycerides (85%) and highly significant (P<0.01) raised cholesterol levels (82.5%). Conclusions: The study shows that there are alterations in liver enzymes levels and highlight the importance of gender, BMI and dyslipidemia to assess the risk of individuals with NAFLD, which reaffirm the association with the disease.