Association of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus- An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACT

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver disorder but is often ignored especially in diabetes mellitus and thus carries serious complications in the long run. We aim to study the association of NAFLD with type 2 diabetes mellitus.METHODSA prospective observational case control study of diabetic patients was done in a tertiary care teaching hospital. A total of 50 diabetic patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected as cases while 50 age sex matched non-diabetic patients were included as controls. Complete clinical, laboratory and radiological data was collected from each patient and analyzed. Data was analyzed using statistical software SPSS ver. 21.RESULTSMean value of age in cases was 52.42 ± 10.24 years and in control was 54.04 ± 10.16 years (p>0.05). There were 56% males and 44% females in both the groups. Among the cases, majority (84%) of the patients were on Oral Hypoglycemic Agents (OHA). As compared to controls, cases had significantly higher SGOT and SGPT but significantly lower total bilirubin levels (p<0.05). In the lipid profile, cases had significantly higher TG, LDL and VLDL levels (p<0.05). Significant difference was seen in the USG findings between cases and controls. Majority (66%) of the patients in cases had abnormal USG findings showing liver thickness, as compared to 30% in controls.CONCLUSIONSType 2 diabetes was strongly found to be associated with development of NAFLD, and since most patients of NAFLD remain asymptomatic, all diabetic patients must be screened for development NAFLD.