Identification of Metabolic risk phenotypes predisposing to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Pakistani Cohort

Objectives: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged in the last two decades with worldwide prevalence of 25.24%. Due to its increasing frequency in Pakistan, it was aimed to identify disease predisposing metabolic risks and their association with NAFLD.

Methods: Anthropometric and biochemical investigations were collected from 1366 subjects with minor metabolic disturbances. Comparative analyses were performed to compute frequencies of common metabolic risk phenotypes while their associations with NAFLD were explored using regression analyses. The prevalence of NAFLD was also estimated in total, age, and gender-based population cohorts.

Results: Among metabolic risk phenotypes obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension, and dyslipidemia significantly associated (p<0.001) with NAFLD risk irrespective of age, gender, and BMI. Prevalence of NAFLD in total study cohort was 14.8%, 16.1% in males, 13.4% in females, 19.9% in ≥40 years and 8.7% in ≤40 years respectively.

Conclusion: General Pakistani populations experiencing common metabolic disturbances are at high risk of NAFLD development, especially male gender and advanced age. Based on these parameters the stratified NAFLD population could be treated accordingly.