ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association between non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic syndrome (MS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A cross-sectional multiple-stage stratified survey was performed. A total of 2190 civil servants of Chongqing city were invited to participate in the survey covering physical examination, serum biochemistry-profile and ultrasonographic examination of liver.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of 2176 valid questionnaires, altogether 455 cases were diagnosed as NAFLD and 231 individuals were diagnosed as MS. The prevalence of obesity, hyperglycemia, blood lipid disturbance, primary hypertension, NAFLD and MS was 38.3%, 5.5%, 31.7%, 29.9%, 20.9% and 10.6% respectively, which was increased along with aging (chi2 = 31.775, P = 0.000; chi2 = 25.985, P = 0.000; chi2 = 44.818, P = 0.000; chi2 =149.802, P = 0.000; chi2 = 61.302, P = 0.000; chi2 = 43.508, P = 0.000 a partly). The prevalence of obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, primary hypertension, metabolic syndrome was significantly higher than those in control group (chi2 = 384.554, P = 0.000; chi2 = 25.597, P = 0.000; chi2 = 370.849, P = 0.000; chi2 = 40.252, P = 0.000; chi2 = 215.077, P = 0.000 separately), and the level of body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), triglyceride (TG), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in NAFLD group was remarkably higher than those in control group (t = 26.308, P = 0.000; t = 6.055, P = 0.000; t = 15.980, P = 0.000; t = 10.550, P = 0.000; t = 13.628, P = 0.000 respectively), while the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was on the opposite (t = 20.067, P = 0.000). Compared with the control group, odds risk for NAFLD was 22.82 folds (95% CI: 12.64-41.19) in obesity, 20.97 folds (95% CI: 11.21-39.24) in hyperglycemia, 24.40 folds (95% CI: 13.51-44.07) in dyslipidemia, 15.73 folds (95% CI: 8.66-28.60) in primary hypertension, while the risk for NAFLD was the highest in MS (OR = 31.06, 95% CI: 17.12-56.35). There were simple or multiple metabolic disorders in 455 individuals diagnosed as NAFLD, and 21 case (4.6%) with obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia and primary hypertension.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NAFLD is closely related with MS, which may be considered as a feature of MS.</p>