Diagnostic value of alcoholic liver disease (ALD)/nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) index combined with γ-glutamyl transferase in differentiating ALD and NAFLD

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to verify the reliability of the alcoholic liver disease (ALD)/nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) index (ANI) for distinguishing ALD in patients with hepatic steatosis from NAFLD, and to investigate whether ANI combined with γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) would enhance the accuracy of diagnosis in China. METHODS: A hundred thirty-nine cases of fatty liver disease (FLD) were divided into two groups of ALD and NAFLD. The ANI was calculated with an online calculator. All indicators and ANI values were analyzed using statistical methods. RESULTS: ANI was significantly higher in patients with ALD than in those with NAFLD (7.11 ± 5.77 vs. -3.09 ± 3.89, p 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ANI can help distinguish ALD from NAFLD with high accuracy; when ANI was combined with GGT, its effectiveness improved further.