Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is commonly associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) though its prevalence is not well studied. This was a prospective study of prevalence and risk factors of NAFLD in patients with type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of NAFLD in patients with T2DM.

Subjects and Methods: A total of 200 patients with T2DM fulfilling the criteria were enrolled after taking informed consent in Fall 2016/Spring 2017. Thorough medical history and relevant physical examination was taken. Demographic data such as age, gender were noted. Ultrasound was done and then patients were classified as having NAFLD if they had evidence of steatosis with no causes for secondary hepatic fat accumulation such as significant alcohol consumption, use of steatogenic medication, or hereditary disorders.

Results: The mean age of patients was 52.40 years with standard deviation of 2.68 years with most of the patients in the age range 45–60 years. Majority of the patients in the study were female (62.0%). Mean duration of DM was 6.2 years with standard deviation of 2.58. Mean fasting plasma glucose was 145.5±5.36 mg/dl. Frequency of NAFLD, as per operational definition was 55%. Stratification of data with respect to age, gender, duration of diabetes and treatment of diabetes show P value was >0.05 in all cases showing statistically insignificant difference between various subgroups.

Conclusion: Prevalence of NAFLD in our cohort of type 2 DM patients is high. It can occur in diabetic patients without any symptoms, signs or routine laboratory test abnormalities and thus needs to be screened.