Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The pathophysiology of metabolic steatopathy remains complex, prompting numerous inquiries to date. While the isolated presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) has been reported in this pathology, their prognostic relevance has not been adequately investigated. The objectives of our study were to: - Examine the prevalence of antinuclear antibodies during metabolic steatopathy. - Investigate the prognostic significance of ANA in metabolic steatopathy.

Patients and Methods: This was a single-center, cross-sectional, descriptive study encompassing all patients diagnosed with metabolic steatopathy from March 2021 to December 2022. Patients diagnosed with connectivitis and autoimmune hepatitis were excluded. Clinical data (age, medical history, anthropometric measurements, and blood pressure) were collected. A laboratory assessment (metabolic and hepatic profiles, viral serologies for hepatitis B and C) was conducted, along with the detection of antinuclear antibodies. Liver fibrosis evaluation employed transient elastography (Fibroscan), and cardiovascular risk assessment utilized the GLOBORISK score.

Results: The study population comprised 104 patients with a mean age of 54.51±10.2 years and a gender ratio of 0.52. Histories of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were noted in 41.3%, 44.2%, and 30.8% of patients, respectively. ANA were positive in 13.5% of patients (n=14) with titers ranging from 1/80 to 1/400. No significant differences were observed in basic demographic data based on ANA positivity. Regarding biological data, thrombocytopenia was more frequently observed in ANA-positive patients (35.7% versus 5.5%) (P=0.038). Liver elasticity was higher in patients with positive ANA (8.7 kPa versus 6.9 kPa), although not statistically significant (P=0.327). Cardiovascular risk assessment did not show an elevated risk in ANA-positive patients (P=0.207).

Conclusion: Our study suggests that ANA positivity during metabolic steatopathy is not uncommon. However, it appears to be an epiphenomenon without substantial prognostic implications. Larger studies with better-matched groups are required to confirm this hypothesis.