The histological liver evaluation in morbidly obese subjects

Objective To evaluate histological liver changes in morbidly obese patients and to look for possible correlations with demographic, body mass, laboratory parameters, comorbidities. Material and methods 103 patients included in our prospective study had been referred for the obesity surgery and 98 (95.1%) of them had liver biopsies. Results Our study assessed significant relations of these parameters: 1) steatosis and male gender (p = 0.012), aspartate transaminase (AST) (p = 0.003), alanine transaminase (ALT) (p = 0.003); 2) hepatocellular ballooning – AST (p = 0.036), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) (p = 0.018); 3) lobular inflammation – diabetes mellitus (p = 0.006); 4) portal inflammation – triglycerides (p = 0.011), hypertension (p = 0.01), obstructive sleep apnea (p = 0.028), hypertension with obstructive sleep apnea (p = 0.033); 5) fibrosis – AST (p = 0.016), GGT (p = 0.013), triglycerides (p = 0.011), diabetes mellitus (p = 0.006), hypertension (p = 0.04); 5) non-alcoholic fatty liver disease activity score – body mass index (p = 0.032), AST (p = 0.001), ALT(p = 0.012), GGT (p = 0.038), diabetes mellitus (p = 0.029); 6) fibro-inflammation index – AST (p = 0.048), hypertension (p = 0.007), diabetes mellitus (p = 0.007). Conclusions The severity of liver steatosis preferably reflected aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, gamma-glutamyltransferase. The severe liver steatosis was more common among men. The severity of liver fibrosis and inflammation preferably reflected aspartate transaminase, triglycerides. Diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension significantly correlated with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis