hs-crp a novel prognostic marker for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (nafld) associated with stable type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction: The term Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is used to describe fatty liver changes from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in the absence of excessive alcohol intake.
High serum level of hs-CRP is an independent risk factor of short-term progression to NASH in NAFLD patients associated with stable Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
Aims & Objectives: To determine the levels of hs-CRP in patients of Non- alcoholic fatty liver disease with stable Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and its correlation with age and sex matched healthy controls and different grades of NAFLD according to ultrasound findings.
Materials and Methods: The present study included 80 cases of ultrasonographically verified Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients with stable Type II Diabetes Mellitus aged between 30 to 60 years reported in Medicine IPD and OPD of Maharaja Yashwant Rao Hospital, Indore and 80 age and sex matched apparently healthy controls. Exclusion criteria: Patients with past history of autoimmune hepatitis, hepatic dysfunction, or cirrhosis, alcoholism, gestational DM, hepatotoxic drugs, pregnancy, smoking, known renal disease, medication with herbal medicine or supplements for body building and incomplete medical records were excluded from the study. 5 ml overnight fasting blood sample was collected from each subject and analyzed for FBS, serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, hs-CRP and HbA1c in fully automated analyzer and their anthropometric measurements like head circumference, neck circumference, hip circumference, height, weight, BMI, waist to hip ratio were measured and recorded.
All data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. Results were expressed as mean±standard deviation. Student t-test was used to compare between the groups and P value<0.05 was considered as significant and < 0.001 as highly significant.
Results and Observations: Results revealed that significant increase was observed in BMI, Neck circumference, Waist Hip Ratio, hs-CRP, fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, Total cholesterol and Triglycerides.
Conclusion: hsCRP may be used as prognostic marker for progression to hepatic complications like progressive changes in grades of fatty liver and NASH in patients of Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with stable Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.